Vocal - Kaustuv Ganguli
Tabla - Manav Khurana
Harmonium -Srikar Ayyalasomajula
Come join us at the Chhandayan Center for an evening of Hindustani vocal music performed by Kaustuv Ganguli, accompanied on tabla by Manav Khurana. The performance will also be streamed live.
Kaustuv Ganguli
Initiated into music at an age of 4 through his grandfather Late Phanindra Mohan Ganguli he has continued his musical training since the age of 7 with vocal maestro Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty, first at his institution Shrutinandan and later as a scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata. Kaustuv has been performing in various cities of India as well as abroad since the age of 12 in prestigious concerts such as the Dover Lane Music Conference (Kolkata), Arohee, Gharana GenNext, and Sur Sagar by Pancham Nishad, Suburban Music Circle (Mumbai), Art Music of India Festival (Barcelona, Spain), Swarmangesh, Serendipity Arts Festival (Goa), and recently a series of online concerts to name a few.
After PhD at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and Postdoc at the New York University Abu Dhabi, Kaustuv has joined Zayed University, UAE as an Associate Professor in Computational Systems. His research interest includes artificial intelligence in music, with a focus on computational musicology.
Kaustuv envisions to deeply explore the pedagogy via scientific and humanistic ways and promote experimental works on music production, analysis, and performance with a view to converging his knowledge in music and technology fronts.
Manav Khurana
Manav Khurana is a talented young tabla player from the Farrukhabad Gharana. His musical inclination became apparent at an early age, and his parents encouraged him to learn Dholak, Piano, and other instruments. As a teenager, he was initiated into the world of tabla by his dholak Guru, Shri Roger Sookraj. He soon continued his study of tabla under Shri Kumar Raj Gandharva and Sabir Hussain of the Punjab Gharana. Subsequently, he began his serious training with Shri Dibyarka Chatterjee at the age of 14. In 2023 he became an initiated disciple (shishya) of tabla maestro Pandit Samir Chatterjee. Manav has already performed with some notable performers of Indian Classical Music including, Shri Biplap Mukherjee, Pandit Hindol Chattopadhyay, Pandit Sugato Nag, and his Guru Pandit Samir Chatterjee. Outside of music, he is currently pursuing his Bachelors degree in Finance.
Srikar Ayyalasomajula
Srikar Ayyalasomayajula grew up in central New Jersey and currently lives in Brooklyn. He has learnt Harmonium from Guru Sri Hemant Kulkarni in New Jersey for over ten years. Srikar has performed harmonium solo pieces in a number of concerts and competitions in harmonium growing up, including winning first prize in national competitions conducted by Marathi Vishwa, Academy of Indian Music and Fine Arts, Bharat Sevashram, etc. Apart from solo performances, Srikar has also provided dynamic as energetic Harmonium saath to artists from around the world regularly for over a decade. Srikar was also the Music Chair of Michigan Sahana, the premier Indian Classical Music and Dance Organization at the University of Michigan and had been organizing and performing in their concerts throughout his time at the university. After graduating, Srikar had been continuing to be a part of both classical accompaniment and fusion collaborations across the country. Apart from music, Srikar currently works at Google as a Software Engineer in New York City.