Aditya Phatak is a young student of Indian music, with special aptitude in Tabla. He started playing tabla at the age of two, even before he was tall enough to reach the drums. He was initially inspired by his grandfather Deepak Phatak and guided by his uncle Shivraj Phatak. Since February of 2008, when he was four years old, he came under the loving mentorship of Pt. Samir Chatterjee in the formal Guru-Shishya (master-disciple) relationship. Eleven years into his talim (grooming), through utmost sincerity and diligence, Aditya qualified to make his entry into the field of performance. His music is certainly worth listening to. Aditya has also been studying Hindustani Classical vocal music with Smt. Rucha Jambhekar for the past ten years.
Anish Dharam is 16 years old. He is an 11th grade honors student at J P Stevens high School in Edison, New Jersey. Anish started learning Harmonium and Indian classical music at the age of 7 under the guidance of Shri Hemant Kulkarni, recently he started his music journey with Shri Kedar Naphade. Anish also learns Keyboard under the guidance of Shri Bobby Chatterjee. He has won several music competitions and awards. Anish has performed at many events here in US, also in Pune and Hyderabad in India. Anish has accompanied many renowned artists from US as well as India including Shri Sridhar Phadke, Vidushi Radha Desai, Vidushi Bharathi Prathap to name a few. He is a fellowship award winner from IndianRaga, an Indian-American organization which connects over 3000 artists globally. Anish also sings in choir and has performed in the 2018 and 2020 All Eastern Junior high honor choir and the 2019 National junior high Honor Choir.
Arnav Pofale has been learning Hindustani classical music from the age of 5 from Smt. Pradnya Jadhav Solat who is a disciple of Smt. Arti Ankalikar ji. Arnav is in 7th grade at Iselin Middle School (IMS). Arnav has participated in many local, state level and international level classical and semiclassical competitions and won numerous awards. He has won the Marathi Vishwa Swardhara Competition several times. He has won the New Jersey state award at Meri Awaj Suno competition in 2019. Along with the singing he is also getting Tabla training from his guru Shri. Suryaksh Deshpande. Arnav was selected by Dr. Saleel Kulkarni to sing in the album Abhijaat’s Bhimrupi song. In addition to music, he is a passionate basketball player.
Gayatri Phatak is 13 years old and has been studying Hindusthani classical vocal music for the past seven years from Smt. Rucha Jambhekar. Gayatri has performed at several cultural programs within New Jersey and has also won accolades in the Marathi Vishwa Swar Dhara competition. Outside of classical vocal singing, Gayatri enjoys singing in the school choir, playing saxophone in the jazz band, playing classical piano, and studying jazz, tap, and ballet styles of dance.
Rikhav Sanjeev is an incoming sophomore at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. He has been playing bass guitar for the past 5 years and has played in a few jazz and rock bands, both in and outside of school. He has also been learning Indian classical vocal music from Pt. Samarth Nagarkar for the past 2½ years. Outside of music, he likes playing tennis, watching sports, and spending time with his family.
Sayli Limaye is a sophomore at South Brunswick High School. She has been learning Hindustani Classical vocal music for the past 11 years from Shrimati Rucha Jambhekar and is now also learning under the guidance of Pandit Vijay Koparkar Ji. She has won various awards in Indian Classical music, including at the Gaan-Nipun Spardha held by the Pandit Jasraj Institute in 2016, the yearly Swaradhara Competition held by Marathi Vishwa, Chaitradhun 2020, and The Dream Voice USA 2020. She has a passion for music, and hopes to continue pursuing it in the future. Along with her interests in vocal music, Sayli also enjoys writing poetry and learning violin.
Will Schetelich is a trumpet player that focuses on jazz and improvisation. He has been playing trumpet for 8 years, but has been exposed to music since he can remember. Will grew the most in working with Jazz House, and grew as a trumpet player and musician there. Will loves being active at the gym, reading, and playing chess. He is committed to Montclair University to study music performance and education.
Neil Khare began learning tabla from his father and currently learns from Shri Amod Dandawate. He has received many awards in the Instrumental tabla solo category and has accompanied several artists in the Tri-State area. Besides his musical passion he enjoys playing and coaching basketball. He is 19 years old and is currently a sophomore in college. He looks forward to continuing his passion for tabla and requests for all of your blessings for his future success.
Manav Khurana is 16 years old and has been learning tabla for the past five years. His initial training was under the guidance of Shri Kumar Raj Gandharva, and he subsequently learned from Sabir Hussain of the Punjab Gharana. For the past three years he has been studying with Shri Dibyarka Chatterjee of the Farrukhabad Gharana, who is the son and disciple of Pandit Samir Chatterjee.
