Tabla Solo - Samir Chatterjee
Harmonium - Kedar Naphade

Come join us at the Chhandayan Center for a tabla recital by our founder Pdt. Samir Chatterjee, accompanied by Kedar Naphade on harmonium. The performance will also be streamed live.

Samir Chatterjee

Samir Chatterjee is a virtuoso Tabla player. He travels widely across the world throughout the year performing in numerous festivals as a soloist or with other outstanding musicians from both Indian and non-Indian musical traditions. Samir performed at the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway. He also performed at the UN General Assembly. His compositions are widely acclaimed as well as his writings. Samir is a firm believer in the transforming effect of music on the society and all aspects of his work reflects this conviction.    

            Chatterjee began his studies early with Bankim Ghosh, Balaram Mukherjee, Rathin Dhar and Md. Salim. His later formation as a musician occurred under the guidance of Amalesh Chatterjee and Shyamal Bose. All of Samir's teachers have been from the Farrukhabad Gharana of Tabla-playing, which he now represents. 

            Samir can be heard on numerous recordings featuring as soloist, accompanying many of India's greatest musicians and in collaboration with western musicians of outstanding caliber. In concert Samir has accompanied many of India's greatest musicians including Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Jasraj, Nikhil Banerjee, V.G. Jog, Shivkumar Sharma, Hariprasad Chaurasia, M. S. Gopalakrishnan, Amjad Ali Khan, Salamat Ali Khan, Lakshmi Shankar, L. Subramanium, U Srinivas, Shujaat Khan, Shahid Parvez, Ajoy Chakraborty, Rashid Khan, Kaushiki Chakraborty, to name only a few. 

            Samir Chatterjee has been a catalyst in the fusion of Indian and Non-Indian music, in his own creations and others as well. He has performed with Pauline Oliveros, William Parker, Branford Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane, Joshua Bell, David Liebman, Ned Rothenberg, Mark Dresser, Dance Theater of Harlem, Boston Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, and other jazz, classical and Avant guard musicians and ensembles. He also collaborates with Sufi-Rock singer Salman Ahmad of Junoon from Pakistan. He is the composer and director of Tablaphilia, Indo-Flame, Chhand-Anand, RabiThakur, Meghadootam, and Dawn to Dusk and Beyond. He performs with Sanjay Mishra on his CD "Blue Incantation" featuring Jerry Garcia as guest artist. 

        Chatterjee has been teaching for the last 50 years. Many of his students are established performers. He is the founding president of Chhandayan. He has authored books titled A Study of Tabla, Music of India and Those Forty Days. He has taught at the Manhattan School of Music, Univ. of Pittsburgh, New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Yale University, NYU, among many other major institutions in the USA, Europe and India. He has master's degrees in English and History.

       Samir made significant contributions towards the musical revival of Afghanistan since 2008. He has received several awards including Sunshine Caribbean Award in 2016, Jadu Bhatta Award from Salt Lake Music Conference, Acharya Varistha Award from Pandit Jasraj Institute, Taal Mani Award from Council of Indian Classical Music, Delhi in 2018, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from SMIPAC Trust, Delhi in 2018.

Kedar Naphade

Kedar Naphade

Born on January 10, 1972, Kedar Naphade received preliminary training in Hindustani Classical Music from his grandfather, Shri Dadasaheb Naphade and from Shri Arvind Gajendragadkar.

Since he was 10 years of age, Kedar has had the great good fortune of training under the loving and expert guidance of Pt. Tulsidas Borkar, one of the topmost harmonium players in India today. Under his nurturing guidance, Kedar has imbibed the unique style of solo harmonium performance developed by Pt. Borkarji’s guru, Madhukar Pednekar or P. Madhukar. P. Madhukar was a genius with tremendous mastery over the instrument that is to date unsurpassed. His glorious tradition, which utilizes the strengths of the harmonium to the extreme, is presented to the connoisseur today by his stalwart disciples like Pt. Tulsidas Borkar and Pt. Anant Kemkar and the next generation of disciples consisting of Sudhir Nayak, Seema Mestri-Shirodkar, Kedar Naphade and others.

Kedar has also had the privilege of training under Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, a veteran singer of the Atrauli-Jaipur gharana. She played a pivotal role in his musical development and sowed in him the seed that developed into a passionate love for the vocal art form. As such, Kedar’s music derives inspiration from the stylistic genius and dexterous wizardry of P. Madhukar as well as the character of the traditional Hindustani vocal art form, especially of the Gwalior and Jaipur gharanas. In addition to classical music, Kedar also plays the semi-classical forms of Marathi Natyasangeet (Stage Music), Bhajans, Thumri, Dhun etc.

Kedar has performed harmonium solo and has accompanied vocalists at numerous concerts in India, Europe and in the U.S. including prestigious festivals and venues such as the Alladiya Khan Smruti Samaroha, Dadar Matunga Cultural Center, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space etc. He has accompanied artists of high caliber such as his guru Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, Pt. Phiroz Dastur, Pt. Jasraj, Smt. Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Smt. Laxmi Shankar and others. Kedar continues to train from Pt. Tulsidas Borkar and maintains an active concert schedule in the U.S.

Tabla - Samir Chatterjee

Harmonium - Kedar Naphade

Come join us at the Chhandayan Center for a tabla solo performed by our founder Samir Chatterjee

Samir Chatterjee

Samir Chatterjee is a virtuoso Tabla player. He travels widely across the world throughout the year performing in numerous festivals as a soloist or with other outstanding musicians from both Indian and non-Indian musical traditions. Samir performed at the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway. He also performed at the UN General Assembly. His compositions are widely acclaimed as well as his writings. Samir is a firm believer in the transforming effect of music on the society and all aspects of his work reflects this conviction.    

            Chatterjee began his studies early with Bankim Ghosh, Balaram Mukherjee, Rathin Dhar and Md. Salim. His later formation as a musician occurred under the guidance of Amalesh Chatterjee and Shyamal Bose. All of Samir's teachers have been from the Farrukhabad Gharana of Tabla-playing, which he now represents. 

            Samir can be heard on numerous recordings featuring as soloist, accompanying many of India's greatest musicians and in collaboration with western musicians of outstanding caliber. In concert Samir has accompanied many of India's greatest musicians including Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Jasraj, Nikhil Banerjee, V.G. Jog, Shivkumar Sharma, Hariprasad Chaurasia, M. S. Gopalakrishnan, Amjad Ali Khan, Salamat Ali Khan, Lakshmi Shankar, Manilal Nag, L. Subramanium, U Srinivas, Veena Sahashrabuddhe,  Shujaat Khan, Shahid Parvez, Ajoy Chakraborty, Nishat Khan, Rashid Khan, Tejendra N. Majumdar, Arti Anklekar, Kaushiki Chakraborty, to name only a few. 

            Samir Chatterjee has been a catalyst in the fusion of Indian and Non-Indian music, in his own creations and others as well. He has performed with Pauline Oliveros, William Parker, Branford Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane, Joshua Bell, David Liebman, Oliver Lake, Dave Douglas, Ned Rothenberg, Mark Dresser, Mark Feldman, Jerome Harris, Eric Friedlander, Steve Gorn, Dance Theater of Harlem, Boston Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, and other jazz, classical and avant guard musicians and ensembles. He also collaborates with Sufi-Rock singer Salman Ahmad of Junoon from Pakistan. He is the composer and director of Tablaphilia, Indo-Flame, Chhand-Anand, RabiThakur, Meghadootam, and Dawn to Dusk and Beyond. He performs with Sanjay Mishra on his CD "Blue Incantation" featuring Jerry Garcia as guest artist. 

        Chatterjee has been teaching for the last 50 years. Many of his students are established performers. He is the founding president of Chhandayan. He has authored books titled A Study of Tabla, Music of India and Those Forty Days. He has taught at the Manhattan School of Music, Univ. of Pittsburgh, New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Yale University, NYU, Columbia University, Princeton University, UCLA, among many other major institutions in the USA, Europe and India. He has master's degrees in English and History.

       Samir made significant contributions towards the musical revival of Afghanistan since 2008. He has received several awards including Sunshine Caribbean Award in 2016, Jadu Bhatta Award from Salt Lake Music Conference, Acharya Varistha Award from Pandit Jasraj Institute, Taal Mani Award from Council of Indian Classical Music, Delhi in 2018, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from SMIPAC Trust, Delhi in 2018.

Kedar Naphade

Born on January 10, 1972, Kedar Naphade received preliminary training in Hindustani Classical Music from his grandfather, Shri Dadasaheb Naphade and from Shri Arvind Gajendragadkar.

Since he was 10 years of age, Kedar has had the great good fortune of training under the loving and expert guidance of Pt. Tulsidas Borkar, one of the topmost harmonium players in India today. Under his nurturing guidance, Kedar has imbibed the unique style of solo harmonium performance developed by Pt. Borkarji’s guru, Madhukar Pednekar or P. Madhukar. P. Madhukar was a genius with tremendous mastery over the instrument that is to date unsurpassed. His glorious tradition, which utilizes the strengths of the harmonium to the extreme, is presented to the connoisseur today by his stalwart disciples like Pt. Tulsidas Borkar and Pt. Anant Kemkar and the next generation of disciples consisting of Sudhir Nayak, Seema Mestri-Shirodkar, Kedar Naphade and others.

Kedar has also had the privilege of training under Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, a veteran singer of the Atrauli-Jaipur gharana. She played a pivotal role in his musical development and sowed in him the seed that developed into a passionate love for the vocal art form. As such, Kedar’s music derives inspiration from the stylistic genius and dexterous wizardry of P. Madhukar as well as the character of the traditional Hindustani vocal art form, especially of the Gwalior and Jaipur gharanas. In addition to classical music, Kedar also plays the semi-classical forms of Marathi Natyasangeet (Stage Music), Bhajans, Thumri, Dhun etc.

Kedar has performed harmonium solo and has accompanied vocalists at numerous concerts in India, Europe and in the U.S. including prestigious festivals and venues such as the Alladiya Khan Smruti Samaroha, Dadar Matunga Cultural Center, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space etc. He has accompanied artists of high caliber such as his guru Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, Pt. Phiroz Dastur, Pt. Jasraj, Smt. Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Smt. Laxmi Shankar and others. Kedar continues to train from Pt. Tulsidas Borkar and maintains an active concert schedule in the U.S.

Brajeswar Mukherjee - Hindustani Vocal

Samir Chatterjee - Tabla

Kedar Naphade - Harmonium

Come join us for an evening of Hindustani Vocal music performed by Brajeswar Mukherjee. The performance will also be streamed live.

Brajeswar Mukherjee

Brajeswar Mukherjee is one of the most promising young vocalists performing Hindustani Classical Music. Born into a musical family, he started learning from his parents at the early age of four. He also studied with Sri Asit Roy of the Vishnupur Gharana. From the late 1990s he has been a disciple of the internationally acclaimed artiste Guru Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty. Brajeswar has found popularity with lovers of Indian classical music and Bengali raga based songs through his radio programs, live performances, and published albums.

His is the recipient of many awards and honours, including the ‘Dhananjay Smriti Puraskar’ from Calcutta University, the ‘Shrutinandan Puraskar’ from the Shrutinandan Institute (founded by his guru Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty), the ‘Gaan Vardhan’ from Pune, and the ‘Ustad Bismallah Khan’ Award from the Sangeet Natak Academy in 2016. He is currently a Musician Tutor of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy and also a regular artiste of All India Radio.

He has been touring throughout the world over the last ten years and has performed with his guru, with the Carnatic vocalist Dr. M. Balmuralikrishna, and also as a solo artist.

Samir Chatterjee

Samir Chatterjee is a virtuoso Tabla player from India. He travels widely across the world throughout the year performing in numerous festivals as a soloist or with other outstanding musicians from both Indian and non-Indian musical traditions. Samir performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway in 2007. He also performed a few times at the United Nations General Assembly. His compositions are widely acclaimed as well as his writings. Samir is a firm believer in the transforming effect of music on the society and all aspects of his work reflects this conviction. Samir began his studies early with Pandit Bankim Ghosh, Pt. Balaram Mukherjee, Pt. Rathin Dhar and Md. Salim. His later formation as a musician occurred under the guidance of Pt. Amalesh Chatterjee (since 1966) and Pt. Shyamal Bose (since 1984). All of Samir's teachers have been from the Farrukhabad Gharana (school) of Tabla-playing, which he now represents. Samir is rated ‘A’ as an artiste of Indian national radio and television. He can be heard on numerous recordings featuring as soloist, accompanying many of India's greatest musicians and in collaboration with western musicians of outstanding caliber. In concert Samir has accompanied many of India's greatest musicians including Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ud. Vilayat Khan, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Nikhil Banerjee, Pt. V.G. Jog, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, M. S. Gopalakrishnan, Ud. Amjad Ali Khan, Ud. Salamat Ali Khan, Smt. Lakshmi Shankar, Pt. Manilal Nag, Ud. Ali Ahmed Hussain, Ud. Aashis Khan, Dr. L. Subramanium, U Srinivas, Ud. Naseeruddin Sami, Smt. Veena Sahashrabuddhe, Ud. Shujat Khan, Ud. Saheed Parvez, Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty, Ud. Nishat Khan, Ud. Rashid Khan, to name only a few. Samir Chatterjee lives in the New York-New Jersey area, and has been a catalyst in the fusion of Indian and Non-Indian music, in his own creations and others as well. He performs with Pauline Oliveros, William Parker, Branford Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane, Joshua Bell, Yoko Ono Lenon, David Liebman, Oliver Lake, Dave Douglas, Ned Rothenberg,

Kedar Naphade

Born on January 10, 1972, Kedar Naphade received preliminary training in Hindustani Classical Music from his grandfather, Shri Dadasaheb Naphade and from Shri Arvind Gajendragadkar.

Since he was 10 years of age, Kedar has had the great good fortune of training under the loving and expert guidance of Pt. Tulsidas Borkar, one of the topmost harmonium players in India today. Under his nurturing guidance, Kedar has imbibed the unique style of solo harmonium performance developed by Pt. Borkarji’s guru, Madhukar Pednekar or P. Madhukar. P. Madhukar was a genius with tremendous mastery over the instrument that is to date unsurpassed. His glorious tradition, which utilizes the strengths of the harmonium to the extreme, is presented to the connoisseur today by his stalwart disciples like Pt. Tulsidas Borkar and Pt. Anant Kemkar and the next generation of disciples consisting of Sudhir Nayak, Seema Mestri-Shirodkar, Kedar Naphade and others.

Kedar has also had the privilege of training under Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, a veteran singer of the Atrauli-Jaipur gharana. She played a pivotal role in his musical development and sowed in him the seed that developed into a passionate love for the vocal art form. As such, Kedar’s music derives inspiration from the stylistic genius and dexterous wizardry of P. Madhukar as well as the character of the traditional Hindustani vocal art form, especially of the Gwalior and Jaipur gharanas. In addition to classical music, Kedar also plays the semi-classical forms of Marathi Natyasangeet (Stage Music), Bhajans, Thumri, Dhun etc.

Kedar has performed harmonium solo and has accompanied vocalists at numerous concerts in India, Europe and in the U.S. including prestigious festivals and venues such as the Alladiya Khan Smruti Samaroha, Dadar Matunga Cultural Center, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space etc. He has accompanied artists of high caliber such as his guru Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, Pt. Phiroz Dastur, Pt. Jasraj, Smt. Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Smt. Laxmi Shankar and others. Kedar continues to train from Pt. Tulsidas Borkar and maintains an active concert schedule in the U.S.

Vocal - Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande
Tabla - Suryaksha Deshpande
Harmonium - Kedar Naphade

The main performance will be preceded by a tabla solo by
Vikram Jeet Mukherjee

Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande

Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, an outstanding vocalist of the famed “Jaipur-Atrauli” Khayal Gayaki tradition, represents the new generation of veterans worthy of wearing the mantle of the old masters.
Born in a musical family, Ashwini completed “Sangeet Visharad” of the “Gandharva Mahavidyalaya” at the young age of 16 and won the President’s Gold Medal at the All India Radio Music Competition in 1977. After grasping the rudiments of Hindustani Classical music under the late Pt. Narayanrao Datar, she began imbibing all the traditional aspects of stylized Jaipur Gayaki under the strict tutelage of her mother, mentor and Guru, Smt. Manik Bhide.
Thoroughly grounded in the Jaipur Atrauli Khayal Gayaki tradition, Ashwini has developed into an artiste of immense public acclaim earning high praise from discerning critics and music lovers all over the globe. Ashwini’s musicianship is characterized by a blend of tonal sweetness coupled with vitality and emotion and raga structure-architecture. Her raga delineation shows an unerring grasp over the grammar of the raga yet maintaining a soulfulness in her singing. Through this she has succeeded in building up her own loyal audience. She yearns to explore the pathos of rare and complex (“achchop”) ragas characteristic of her Gharana. In this effort she has received invaluable guidance from her Guru the late Pt. Ratnakar Pai, a senior stalwart of the Gharana. This, and of course, her mother’s unstinted support, added to her own mature introspection lead Ashwini to new horizons of the ever-expanding terrain of Hindustani Classical Music.
Although a classicist by temperament and training, Ashwini is equally at ease with lighter varieties like Thumri-Dadra and Bhajans/Abhangs. Add to this, her fluency in Sanskrit enriches her repertoire further by inclusion of stotras/stutis. Ashwini has added to her devotional repertoire by scoring the music herself of many of her devotional presentations.
Ashwini’s debut recording album was released in 1985 by HMV and several more have followed thereafter under various banners including Rhythm House, Times Music, Sony Music, Music Today, Navras Records and Universal Music among others.
In October 2004 Ashwini published a book "Ragarachananjali" of her self-composed bandishes. The book has received rave reviews all over the music world and the effort has been lauded for its musical creativity and artistic presentation. Continuing her creative effort she has followed up with "Ragarachananjali 2", her second book of bandishes in October 2010.
Ashwini has traveled extensively all over the globe participating in various prestigious music conferences and Sangeet Sammelans. Her live concerts have been acclaimed for the sheer presentation delight, as much as for the aesthetic and musical quality. A 'top grade' artiste of Akashwani and Doordarshan, Ashwini has featured in several national programmes and AIR Sangeet Sammelans.
As a teacher of competence, Ashwini devotes quality time to her promising disciples assuring continuity of the rich tradition of the Jaipur Gayaki. Ashwini has regularly participated in lecture-demonstrations on Hindustani Classical Music in various schools, colleges and sangeet sabhas and contributes to the enlightenment of the unexposed audiences in India and abroad.
Ashwini's contribution to Hindustani classical vocal music has been acknowledged by way of awards and citations. In June 2015, she was declared the recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademy Award for 2014. She was the first female Hindustani vocalist to have been decorated with the prestigious "Rashtriya Kumar Gandharva Samman" in 2005 by the Government of Madhya Pradesh. She was a recipient of the Government of Maharashtra “Sanskritik Puraskar” for 2011 and the Sahyadri Doordarshan “Sangeet Ratna” Puraskar for 2010. She was awarded the first “Ganatapaswini Mogubai Kurdikar Samman” in 2014 and the Bangalore Kidney Foundation’s “Pandit Mallikarjun Mansoor Award” in 2013. She was honoured with the "Pandit Jasraj Gaurav Puraskar" on the occasion of the 75th birthday celebrations of the Maestro.
Ashwini, who is currently stationed in Mumbai, finally chose music as her first love forsaking a career in Biochemistry but not before completing her doctorate at the esteemed Bhabha Atomic Research Centre/ University of Mumbai.

Suryaksha Deshpande

Suryaksha Deshpande is fortunate enough to have a good Literary and Musical heritage. His father Shri. Prakash Deshpande is a retired Professor of English and an eminent writer and critic in Marathi and his mother Prof. Hema Deshpande herself is a vocalist. disciple of Pt. Babanrao Haldankar (veteran of Agra Gharana).

He has taken tremendous efforts in balancing his academic career and Tabla training. 1977 born Science Graduate, Suryaksha is a disciple of renowed scholar and performer Pt. Arvind Mulgaonkar of Farrukhabad Gharana (senior disciple of Ustad Amir Hussain Khan Sahab). He has also received training of "Delhi Baaz" from Pt. Sudhir Mainkar - a great Musicologist - disciple of Inam Ali Khan Sahab of Delhi Gharana. He has achieved excellence in competitions held by reputed organizations through out the country & was also felicitated with the prestigious Pt. V.D.Paluskar Award.

He has secured First Rank all over India in Tabla Alankar (Masters Degree) Exam held by Akhil Bhartiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. He is also a recipient of the prestigious National scholarship awarded by the Dept. of Culture. Govt. of India

He is an 'A' Grade artiste of All India Radio and Doordarshan.

He is a recipient of the Fellowship for Junior Artist by The Dept. of Culture, India.

He has accompanied many great artist like Padmabhushan Dr. N. Rajam (Violin), Padmashree Pt. D.K. Datar (Violin), Padmashree Pt. Satish Vyas (santoor), Pt. Brij Narayan (Sarod), Pt. Ulhas Bapat (Santoor), Smt. Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande (vocal), Shri. Jayateerth Mevundi (vocal), in India and abroad. He has performed with South Indian musicians like Shri. Sriram Parshuram (vocal), Shri. Sridhar Parthsarathy (Mridangam) etc. He has also played in many Talwadya Kachaheri concerts. He conceived the concept of Tabla and Dholaki (a folk percussion) being played together for the first time on stage with his Gurubhai Krishna Musalye-Ghotkar.

He had an opportunity to accompany Ghazal maestro U. Ghulam Ali in New Jersey.

He has successfully conducted many workshops & lecture demonstrations.

A blend of the Traditional Tabla of Farrukabaad Gharana, the expansion process of Delhi Gharana and influence of Laghu is clearly observed in his Tabla. A thoughtful and robust solo, a balanced accompaniment to Vocal Music and an appropriate accompaniment to instrumental music are some of his specialties.

Suryaksha is the owner and founder of Anubhooti school of Indian Classical Music.

Kedar Naphade

Born on January 10, 1972, Kedar Naphade received preliminary training in Hindustani Classical Music from his grandfather, Shri Dadasaheb Naphade and from Shri Arvind Gajendragadkar.

Since he was 10 years of age, Kedar has had the great good fortune of training under the loving and expert guidance of Pt. Tulsidas Borkar, one of the topmost harmonium players in India today. Under his nurturing guidance, Kedar has imbibed the unique style of solo harmonium performance developed by Pt. Borkarji’s guru, Madhukar Pednekar or P. Madhukar.  P. Madhukar was a genius with tremendous mastery over the instrument that is to date unsurpassed. His glorious tradition, which utilizes the strengths of the harmonium to the extreme, is presented to the connoisseur today by his stalwart disciples like Pt. Tulsidas Borkar and Pt. Anant Kemkar and the next generation of disciples consisting of Sudhir Nayak, Seema Mestri-Shirodkar, Kedar Naphade and others.   

Kedar has also had the privilege of training under Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, a veteran singer of the Atrauli-Jaipur gharana. She played a pivotal role in his musical development and sowed in him the seed that developed into a passionate love for the vocal art form. As such, Kedar’s music derives inspiration from the stylistic genius and dexterous wizardry of P. Madhukar as well as the character of the traditional Hindustani vocal art form, especially of the Gwalior  and Jaipur gharanas. In addition to classical music, Kedar also plays the semi-classical forms of Marathi Natyasangeet (Stage Music), Bhajans, Thumri, Dhun etc.

Kedar has performed harmonium solo and has accompanied vocalists at numerous concerts in India, Europe and in the U.S. including prestigious festivals and venues such as the Alladiya Khan Smruti Samaroha, Dadar Matunga Cultural Center, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space etc. He has accompanied artists of high caliber such as his guru Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, Pt. Phiroz Dastur, Pt. Jasraj, Smt. Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Smt. Laxmi Shankar and others. Kedar continues to train from Pt. Tulsidas Borkar and maintains an active concert schedule in the U.S.

Vikram Mukherjee

Vikram Mukherjee is a tabla player and student at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  He is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience and Chemistry as well as a certificate in the Philosophy of Medicine, with hopes of becoming a physician. Outside of academics he is a founding member and vice-president of Pitt Sangeet and a research assistant at the Children’s Hospital of Lawrenceville.  Having been exposed to both Indian and Western music by his parents from a young age, he has had training in violin, drum- set and tabla. Initially, his first exposure to tabla came from Shri John Protopapas at the age of 8 and thereafter continued his tutelage under the mentorship and love of Pt. Samir Chatterjee.  He hopes to continue embellishing the wisdom and knowledge of his Guru’s as well as represent Indian classical music for the new generation.  

For this performance he would like to give special thanks to his parents, Dr. Satyajit Mukherjee and Mrs. Asha Makam for their continued encouragement and support as well as his Guru Pt. Samir Chatterjee.

Vocal - Mohan Deshpande
Vocal - Mitali Banerjee Bhawmik
Tabla - Samir Chatterjee
Harmonium - Kedar Naphade

Aaye Na Balam -  Thumri & Dhun from Benares and Punjab

In this concert, you will enjoy light-classical “Thumri” and “Dhun” from Banaras and Punjab.  Thumri is a highly emotive, beautiful and important genre in Indian semi-classical music.  It has influenced many film songs, as well as other genres (e.g. Bhajan, Marathi Natyasangeet) from different parts of the country.  Many classical singers often sing a Thumri as a second or third piece in the concert. The lyrical content of a thumri has both romantic and spiritual connotations.
Indian classical and semi-classical music is not fully pre-composed and there is a lot of improvisation during the performance. Thumri is semi-classical,  so it does not necessarily need to be constrained by all the rules and restrictions that are imposed in classical music (such as the rendition of a raag).
Paradoxically, this liberty makes improvisation in a thumri more difficult for the performer, rather than making it easier.  The artist can take license with the melody, however departing too much from the original theme can detrimentally dilute the overall impact of the performance. The boundaries are blurred.  An intangible artistic sense dictates where one takes the melody, and whether the recital will have impact.  

In addition to performing wonderful folk songs and tunes, the artists will also speak about their thoughts and approach to improvisation during Thumri.

Mohan Deshpande

Dr. Mohan Deshpande is a well-known musician / musicologist born in an illustrious family of musicians tracing their connection back to Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar. Although he was steeped in the tradition of Hindustani Classical music virtually from birth, he approaches his continuing musical explorations from a novel perspective, characterized by a refreshing willingness to experiment with new forms of presentation and explore the limits of various genres.

Mohan learned his music from his father, a noted musical singer and educator, Maha Mahopadhyay Pandit S.B. Deshpande, of Hyderabad, India. Although educated in the Gwalior Gharana style, Mohan grew up immersed in a musical household and exposed to all the top musicians and ‘Ustads’ of the 50’s and 60’s such as Pandit Kumar Gandharva and Ustad Bade Gulam Ali Khan, that influenced the development of his unique musical style. While in medical school, in 1961, Mohan received the Presidential medal in that year's All-India Radio Musical Competition.

He has given numerous performances in vocal raagdari style in India, the US and Canada. Aiming to cultivate a love for Indian Classical tradition, he approaches his musical work with recognition of the needs of listeners in America and experiments with new ideas to increase the exposure of the Indian Classical style to both Indian and American audiences in the US. Thus, he has conducted a variety of discussions and demonstrations.  He designed and collaborated with several prominent NJ musicians to present several programs such as Kalyan darshan, Music of India etc.

Dr. Deshpande has been teaching vocal classical music to children and adults at Vivekananda Vidyapith for over 25 years. After a private practice in New Jersey for over 33 years as an Internist and Cardiologist, he retired in 2015. Now he continues his riaz, concerts and teaching of music.

Mitali Banerjee Bhawmik

Mitali Banerjee Bhawmik, an artiste of Hindustani Classical vocal music, was born in Nogaon, Assan, where she started her initial lessons in music at a very early age from Sri Ajit Dutta.  Later she had the privilege of receiving extensive training in the different styles of Hindustani Classical vocal music from Sri Biren Phukan in Guahati, Assam.  For further training, Mitali came to Calcutta in 1983 where she initially received lessons from Srimati Meera Banerjee, the noted vocalist.  Since 1984 Mitali is under the tutelage of Padmabhushan Pandit V. G. Jog the famous violin maestro. Pandit Jog's vast and extensive experience in the different musical styles and traditions have helped Mitali to blend the best of few styles (Gharanas) in her music in contrast to sticking to a single traditional Gharana style.  This has been the essence of Pandit Jog's philosophy in music and training methodology.Mitali also received training in semi-classical (thumri, dadra, hori etc) music from Smt. Dahlia Rahut, a senior disciple of Smt. Girija Devi.

Mitali has performed in several concerts both in India and USA.  To name a few, in USA, she has performed at the Ali Akbar College of Music in California, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Yale University in Connecticut, Princeton University, Rutgers University in New Jersey, Chhandayan All Night Concert,  other universities in US and also at several locations in New York and New Jersey area. In India Mitali has performed at the Sangeet Research Academy, Salt Lake Music Festival, Bhawanipur Sangeet Samaj, Dover Lane Music Conference periodicals, Calcutta School of Music, World Bengali Conference, SPIC-MACAY concerts, West Bengal State Music conference in Kolkata, Delhi habitat center, IIC Delhi, NCPA Mumbai, Varanasi, Rajkot & Surat & several others. She has also performed at the Nehru Centre and Stratford in London UK.

Her melodious voice and perfect rendition of the "raga's" have won her numerous acclaims and appreciation from the listeners.  Besides Khayals, Mitali also specializes in semi-classical music like Thumris and Bhajans.

Mitali has two CDs “Vandana”, where her Guru Pandit V. G. Jog has accompanied her on the violin. She has another album, named “Rasiya” where she has been accompanied by Pt Ramesh Mishra on Sarengi and Pt Samir Chatterjee on tabla.

Mitali is the director of Ethnomedia Music Studio where she teaches Hindustani Classical Music to several students in the area.  Mitali along with her students has won the prestigious New Jersey Council of the Arts grant for four years.

Samir Chatterjee

Samir Chatterjee is a virtuoso Tabla player from India. He travels widely across the world throughout the year performing in numerous festivals as a soloist or with other outstanding musicians from both Indian and non-Indian musical traditions. Samir performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway in 2007. He also performed a few times at the United Nations General Assembly. His compositions are widely acclaimed as well as his writings. Samir is a firm believer in the transforming effect of music on the society and all aspects of his work reflects this conviction.    

Samir  Chatterjee began his studies early with Pandit Bankim Ghosh, Pt. Balaram Mukherjee, Pt. Rathin Dhar and Mohammad Salim. His later formation as a musician occurred under the guidance of Pt. Amalesh Chatterjee (since 1966) and Pt. Shyamal Bose (since 1984). All of Samir's teachers have been from the Farrukhabad Gharana (school) of Tabla-playing, which he now represents.
          
Samir is rated ‘A’ as an artiste of Indian national radio and television. He can be heard on numerous recordings featuring as soloist, accompanying many of India's greatest musicians and in collaboration with western musicians of outstanding caliber. In concert Samir has accompanied many of India's greatest musicians including Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ud. Vilayat Khan, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Nikhil Banerjee, Pt. V.G. Jog, Pt . Shivkumar Sharma, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, M. S. Gopalakrishnan, Ud. Amjad Ali Khan, Ud. Salamat Ali Khan, Smt. Lakshmi Shankar, Ud. Aashis Khan, Dr. L. Subramanium, Ud. Shujat Khan, Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty, Ud. Rashid Khan, Pt. Tejendra N. Mazumdar, Pt. Debashish Bhattacharya, to name only a few.
          
Samir Chatterjee lives in the New York-New Jersey area, and has been a catalyst in the fusion of Indian and Non-Indian music, in his own creations and others as well. He performs with Pauline Oliveros, William Parker, Branford Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane, Dave Douglas, Steve Gorn, Glen Velez, Boby Sanabria, Ben Verdery, Dance Theater of Harlem, Boston Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Ethos Percussion group, Da Capo Chamber Orchestra, Boston Musica Viva and other jazz, classical and avant guard musicians and ensembles. He is member of jazz trio SYNC with Ned Rothenberg and Jerome Harris and quintet Inner Diaspora together with Mark Feldman and Eric Friedlander. He also collaborates with Sufi-Rock singer Salman Ahmad of Junoon from Pakistan. He is also the composer and director of Indo-Flame and Nacho Nacho - both blends of Indian and Flamenco dance and music, Chhand-Anand - a world percussion ensemble and Dawn to Dusk and Beyond – on the effect of music on humans and nature. He performs with Sanjay Mishra on his CD "Blue Incantation" featuring Jerry Garcia as guest artist.
          
Samir Chatterjee has been teaching for the last 35 years and many of his students are established performers. He is the Founder-Director of CHHANDAYAN, an organization dedicated to promoting and preserving Indian music and culture. He has authored a comprehensive 654-page book entitled ‘A Study of Tabla’ and a guide book to Indian music titled ‘Music of India’. He is on the faculty at Yale University, Manhattan School of Music, University of Pittsburgh, New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and University of Bridgeport in CT. He also contributes to several newspapers and periodicals. He won gold medal for his proficiency in a musical examination and has two master degrees, in English and History.

Since June, 2008 Samir has been working relentlessly towards the musical revival of Afghanistan. He has made several trips to the country working with different levels of the society and administration and within a very short period of time he has been able to make a remarkable difference in the cultural life of the country.

Kedar Naphade

Born on January 10, 1972, Kedar Naphade received preliminary training in Hindustani Classical Music from his grandfather, Shri Dadasaheb Naphade and from Shri Arvind Gajendragadkar.

Since he was 10 years of age, Kedar has had the great good fortune of training under the loving and expert guidance of Pt. Tulsidas Borkar, one of the topmost harmonium players in India today. Under his nurturing guidance, Kedar has imbibed the unique style of solo harmonium performance developed by Pt. Borkarji’s guru, Madhukar Pednekar or P. Madhukar.  P. Madhukar was a genius with tremendous mastery over the instrument that is to date unsurpassed. His glorious tradition, which utilizes the strengths of the harmonium to the extreme, is presented to the connoisseur today by his stalwart disciples like Pt. Tulsidas Borkar and Pt. Anant Kemkar and the next generation of disciples consisting of Sudhir Nayak, Seema Mestri-Shirodkar, Kedar Naphade and others.   

Kedar has also had the privilege of training under Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, a veteran singer of the Atrauli-Jaipur gharana. She played a pivotal role in his musical development and sowed in him the seed that developed into a passionate love for the vocal art form. As such, Kedar’s music derives inspiration from the stylistic genius and dexterous wizardry of P. Madhukar as well as the character of the traditional Hindustani vocal art form, especially of the Gwalior  and Jaipur gharanas. In addition to classical music, Kedar also plays the semi-classical forms of Marathi Natyasangeet (Stage Music), Bhajans, Thumri, Dhun etc.

Kedar has performed harmonium solo and has accompanied vocalists at numerous concerts in India, Europe and in the U.S. including prestigious festivals and venues such as the Alladiya Khan Smruti Samaroha, Dadar Matunga Cultural Center, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space etc. He has accompanied artists of high caliber such as his guru Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, Pt. Phiroz Dastur, Pt. Jasraj, Smt. Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Smt. Laxmi Shankar and others. Kedar continues to train from Pt. Tulsidas Borkar and maintains an active concert schedule in the U.S.