Gaurav Mazumdar hailing from a family of well-known musicians, started under the tutelage of his father Dulal Mazumdar and Guru Pt. Nandkishore Vishwakarma. The legendary maestro, Pt. Ravi Shankar discovered Gaurav’s talent and inspired him to learn the sitar, and under the legend’s teaching and guidance, Gaurav has come to be an accomplished musician. Gaurav’s performances and work has been widely acclaimed and appreciated by audiences at various music festivals and venues all across the globe spanning several parts of Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa and America, also performing on occasions with, and for his guru, Pandit Ravi Shankar. He has had numerous collaborations with western musicians such as Daniel Hope, Philip Glass and Kenny Werner and composed for and performed with the English Chamber Orchestra. Gaurav has several albums featuring his classical, collaborative and compositional works such as ‘Echoes from India’, ‘In Search of Peace’, ‘Grammy nominated’ -’East Meets West’, ‘Orion’ recorded live at the historic concert in the Acropolis in Greece to commemorate the Olympics 2004, ‘Gaurav Mazumdar’, ‘Offerings’ ‘Strings in Harmony’, ‘Walking Together’, ‘Shambala’ - a historic sitar/violin double concerto, ‘Colours from the Rainbow’ - composition for western orchestra and ‘Hesse’.
Ashwini Shankar was born in a family of musicians of Banaras gharana in which Shehnai & flute are played for the last 450 years and over, Ashwini and his brother Sanjeevmanifested their strong affinity towards music at the age of seven and five. Ashwini learnt from his father Pt. Daya Shankar and his grandfather, the legendary Shehnai player Pt. Anant Lal. After formal training in pursuit of proficiency of the highest order in Raga, Taal and Laya, he was awarded scholarship by the Govt. of India, Department of Culture, for his outstanding talent in the field of music. Ashwini also consolidated his knowledge under the able guidance of the legendary sitar maestro Pt. Ravi Shankar. He has mesmerized the audiences at various music festivals like Sri Baba Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan, Magh Mahotsav, Sangeet Natak Akademi and has represented India on many international platforms in places like France, Spain, Ireland, England, Scotland, Hungary, Slovakia, Japan, Bangladesh, USA and many more to name.
Composer & cellist Barry Phillips has been performing folk, new, classical and Indian classical/crossover music for many years. He received a Masters of Music degree in composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and is a student of Ravi Shankar and from 1996 to 2011 had been composition assistant to Mr. Shankar. As a cellist, Barry has toured worldwide with Ravi Shankar’s daughter’s group-The Anoushka Shankar Project. Venues have included the Hollywood Bowl, The Royal Albert Hall-London, The Music Academy-Budapest, Sydney Opera House, Bangalore Palace Grounds, London’s LSO St. Lukes, CRR Concert Hall-Istanbul, as well as the Royal Concert Hall-Glasgow as soloist (along with four top fiddlers) with the Scottish National Orchestra. Barry has arranged and produced many recordings of Northern European folk music including over a dozen on the Gourd Music label exploring American, Celtic folk tunes and the fine line that they walk with baroque and folk styles. Since 1996 Barry has assisted Ravi Shankar in several compositions, including music for Mstislav Rostropovich, Joshua Bell, and the “Concert for George”, a George Harrison celebration at the Albert Hall, where he also performed on cello for both the Indian orchestra and the rock/pop sets. In 2013 Barry received a Grammy as producer/engineer of Ravi Shankar’s CD “The Living Room Sessions Part 1.
Pt. Arup Chattopadhyay, recognized as one of the most outstanding Tabla artists of this generation, is a top-notch accompanist as well as a formidable soloist. Arup’s performances are admired for their exceptional tonal quality, clarity and deep compositional repertoire, all presented with an innate sense of rhythm and melody. Arup began learning Tabla at age six from his father, the eminent Tabla player, Pt. Pankaj Chattopadhyay. He then came under the tutelage of the world-renowned Tabla maestro Pt. Shankar Ghosh and is one of his premier disciples. He was awarded Top-Grade by All India Radio and Television. Arup has accompanied many of the leading musicians of India such as Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ustad Rais Khan, Ustad Aashish Khan, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Pt. Nayan Ghosh, Pt. Ajay Chakarbarti, Lakhsmi Shankar, Pt. Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Ustad Rashid Khan, the late V.G. Jog, Pt. Tarun Bhattacharya, Pt. Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, Pt. Kushal Das, among others. Since 1998, Arup has been honored to accompany the legend Bharat Ratna Pt. Ravi Shankar in tours throughout the US, Canada, Europe, and India, Including performances in Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, in US, and Barbican hall in London.
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