Faculty
Amod Dandavate
Amod Dandawate's training has primarily been in the Farrukhabad style of Tabla playing. Before migrating to the USA, he was in Hyderabad, India where he was groomed by his father Dr. Vasantrao Dandawate, a disciple of the legendary Maestro Ustad Amir Hussain Khan. He received further guidance and encouragement from Shafaat Khan as an accompanist and then spent some time taking lessons from Ustad Zakir Hussain. Having settled in New Jersey he has been receiving advanced training, since 2001, as a disciple of Pt. Samir Chatterjee, a well known maestro of the Farrukhabad gharana. Besides performing solo Tabla, Amod has accompanied several eminent artists and keeps a busy performance schedule. Amod also hold a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering.
Dibyarka Chatterjee
Dibyarka Chatterjee is a young and promising Tabla player from the Farrukhabad Gharana. His natural inclination towards music became evident shortly after his birth, and at the age of five he was initiated by his father Pandit Samir Chatterjee. Since then he has been going through the rigorous discipline of lessons and practice according to the ancient guru-shishya parampara (master-disciple tradition). He has been blessed with many performance opportunities from Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Buddhadeb Das Gupta, Ustad Shujat Khan, Ustad Mashqoor Ali Khan, Sri Moti Joya Biswas and several other prominent musicians.
Maulik Mehta
Maulik Mehta is a student of Pt. Samir Chatterjee. He initiated his early training in Tabla under the guidance of his father Shri Pankajbhai Mehta. He further continued his training under Prof. Sashikant Sant - Ajrala gharana ( Vidyanagar, Gujarat). Based out of New Jersey, Maulik has performed with various artists in the sugam, folk and bhajan genres of Hindustani music. He is continuing his training under the guidance of Pt. Samir Chatterjee and is a member of Chhandayan-New Jersey.
Samir Chatterjee
Samir Chatterjee is a virtuoso Tabla player of 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 western musical traditions. Samir performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway on December 10th, 2007. His compositions are widely acclaimed as well as his writings. He has authored 'A Study of Tabla' and 'Music of India' and has published over 60 albums.
Sanghamitra Chatterjee
Sanghamitra Chatterjee is one of the leading vocalists of India in the fields of light and light classical music. Gifted with a sweet and melodious voice Sanghamitra focuses on Adhunik (Bengali modern song), Rabindrasangeet (songs of Tagore), Nazrulgeet (songs of Nazrul), songs of Atul Prasad Sen, folk songs, Hindi Bhajans, film songs, Geet, Ghazals, etc. She had her lessons in classical music from Pt. Usharanjan Mukherjee, Jatileshwar Mukherjee, Nikhil Chatterjee, Ajoy Das and several other prominent musicians.