100 Strings a Classical Instrumental Extravaganza from India

Sandip Chatterjee – Santoor

BIOGRAPHY

Sandip Chatterjee, a disciple of Santoor maestro Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya and vocal maestro Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty, is a rich and accomplished Santoor player of our time. He has been heralded as the torch bearer of two Gharanas at the same time – MAIHAR and PATIALA.
With his magical strokes over strings, He makes his unique melody speak. A deep rooted explorer in himself has helped him give a dynamic approach to his playing style with one hand. Where he uses his left hand to lift the strings (Plucking Chikari) to play the Alap, Jod,Jhalla, part of bandish( Gat) there by creating an ineffable resonance.

Embroidering the silk with stitches, Sandip’s music has also thickly embroidered innumerable ears by reaching out to a greater world. Sandip has been extensively performing in many music festivals and concerts all around the globe. And, he has also collaborated with many overseas musicians across genres such as Jazz, Rock, New Age, Contemporary and Fusion.

The musical talent and virtuosity exhibited by Sandip over the years have been noted through his
albums which range upto 21 in number. His expertise has also been utilised by renowned music directors
like A.R.Rehman, Jatin Lalit, Gulshan Kumar, Rabindra Jain, Pt.V.Balsara etc.

His ethnic aesthetics had also won him many awards and laurels such as ” President of India Award”, “Jadubhatta Award”, “Sangeeth Ratna Award”” Abhinaba Kala Sanman”” Howrah Ratna Aweard “etc. Through his dauntless efforts he is still trying to create a magic spell by letting his music reverberate and keeping the music lovers enthralled.

CONCERTS

Tansen Sangeet Samaroh (Gwalior), Ameer Khan Sangeet Samaroh (Indor), Alauddin Khan Sangeet Samaroh (Mihar), Chalukya Music festival (Karnataka), Karnataka Music Festival (Bangalore), Nikhil Banerjee Memorial (Barackpur), ITC Sangeet samyalan (Kolkata), Chakradhor Sangeet Samaroh (Raigarh), State Music Academy (Kolkata), Sursagar Music Festival (Bangalore), Prayag Sangeet Samyalan( Allahabad), Doverlnae Music Festival (Kolkata), Samrat Music Festival (Goa), Mughubai Kudikar Sangget Samaroh (Goa) Sangeet Natak Academy (Delhi) and many others…

Sacress Journees Music Festival (France), Saraswati Art (Amsterdam), Indo German Society (DIG) Germany, Martova Folk Festival( Rome), Surdhwani Music Festival (UK), Scotland Art Festival(Scotland), Rasa Centre for world Music (Holland), Less Oriental Music Festival (France), Brunei Music Society (Brunei), Music Guimet (France), Festival de FIMU (France), Tarab Tanger Music Festival (Morocco), IMSOM (USA), Learnquest Music Conference (USA),Basant Bahar (USA), Kalalendra (USA)

COLLABORATIONS & MUSICAL ACTIVITIES

1. In the year 2001, in Germany Sandip worked with a famous Jazz Group of Berlin named “NUOKOLLIN JAZZ ORCHESTRA”
2. In the year 2003, he has collaborated with famous Jazz guitarist Mr. Guy Strazz of Australia. Guy Straz came to India
   with his invitation,and the production recorded in Kolkata and together formed a Band called “CALCUTTA EXPRESS”. The recording has been released from “Underscore Records” in India and “Talpopies Records” from Australia. “Calcutta Express” has been nominated as a finalist in the Indo Acoustic Project’s “Best CDs of 2006” awards in the World Music category.
3. 2007, He has collaborated with famous Saxophonist Claudio Gigillio and Afro Cuban percussionist Fulvio Farkas in Italy.
   Together they created a band “SHANTI’ and performed in several Jazz festival in Europel & Italy. “SHANTI” has been recorded and released by World Space Records in Italy and in Indian from Sagar Music in the name of “RAGA in ROME”
4. 2009 He collaborated with famous Swedish Jazz saxophone Player Elin Lersson in the name of “EMOTION” and the production
   recorded in Kolkata.
5. 2010, He has worked with famous French musician “Titi Robin” and played together for Bluefrog Records in Mumbai.
6. Sandip has his own reputed instrumental Fusion band in India named “EAST WEST CANVAS”, which has a unique soundscape
   based on thematic Indio-western musical combination with Santoor, Flute, Saxiphone, Bass, Keys and percussion. They have wide range of concerts and venues in india and Abroad.
7. Sandip has a well equipped sound recording studio and his won production house in Kolkata named “STDIO SC COMMUNICATION”
   where he compose & arrange musics for many music houses, Indian Movie’s BGM score, as well as his won music productions.

Thanjavur Murugaboopathi – Mridangam

Vidwan Thanjavur K. Murugaboopathi (Boopathi) is one of the world’s most celebrated mridangam players of today. His techniques and creative ability in accompaniment, solo renditions, and jugalbandhi programs with his North Indian brethren have earned him much acclaim around the world.

Murugaboopathi hails from a family of musicians and artists of several generations. He is one of the few performers in the world today who trained in the rare ‘Gurukula’ method (living with one’s guru while learning) with Mridangam maestro Guru Tanjore Upendran for over ten years. Boopathi initially trained under Shri T R Srinivasan from the Tamil Nadu Music College, Chennai before his gurukula training.

Murugaboopathi’s percussion career has been a colorful spectrum of accompaniment to a legion of maestros and virtuosos of the world of Carnatic vocal and instrumental music. Prominent vocalists include Sri M Balamuralikrishna, Sri T V Sankaranarayanan, Madurai Sri T N Seshagopalan, Sri P S Narayanaswami, Sri Sanjay Subramanyam, Sri P Unnikrishnan, Sri T M Krishna, Carnatica Brothers, Smt Sudha Raghunathan, Smt Aruna Sairam, and Smt Nithyashree Mahadevan. Renowned instrumentalists include flautist Dr N Ramani, mandolin player Sri U Srinivas, saxophonist Sri Kadri Gopalnath, violinist brothers Sri Ganesh & Sri Kumaresh and Mysore Sri Nagaraj & Sri Manjunath, vainika Smt. Nirmala Rajasekar, and flautist Sri Shashank. In addition, he has collaborated with several Hindustani (North Indian) musicians in Jugalbandi concerts, including Ustad Sultan Khan, Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan, Pandit Viswa Mohan Bhaatt, Pandit Ronu Majumdar, Sri Gaurav Mazumdar, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, Pandit Ramdas Palsule, Pandit Abhijit Chatterjee and others. Boopathi has also played with several Western and other world musicians to create multifaceted music and foster cultural understanding.

Murugaboopathi’s concert performances have occurred at a wide array of prestigious venues in India. Around the world, he has also performed in the United Nations (New York), the Royal Albert Hall (London), Theater De La Ville (Paris), Public Broadcasting Service Studios (USA), Esplanade Bay Theatres (Singapore) and numerous other venues in USA, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Africa. He is one of the first Carnatic musicians in history to perform in the international music scene of Turkey, with veena artiste Smt Nirmala Rajasekar in 2011 at the Konya Mystic Music Festival.

Murugaboopathi believes strongly in conducting and participating in outreach. He has shared his knowledge through lectures, music conferences, and seminars throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, and East Asia. In addition to being a revered percussion guru, Boopathi has been instrumental in providing support, direction, and guidance towards incubating several arts organizations in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Thanjavur Sri K. Murugaboopathi has received numerous honors and awards, including:

Best Artiste Award – Music Academy Chennai
Pazhani Subramania Pillai Award – Music Academy, Chennai
Talented Artiste Award – Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai
Naadha Vallabha – Naadha Sudha, Chennai
Senior Excellence Award – Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer Trust, Chennai
Best Accompanying Artiste – Sruthilaya Seva, Chennai
Madhura Naadha Shiromani – G. Narayana Sharma Trust, Chennai
Laya Vidyaadhara – Isai Pani Mandram, Chennai
Laya Kala Ratna – Tiruppur Murugan Mandram
Laya Kala Ratna – Sri Ragam Fine Arts
Best Artiste Award – South Indian Music Club in Andhra Pradesh
Excellent Artiste Award – Young Carnatic Musicians Association of Srilanka
Best Artiste Award – Sivan Mandram Sydney, Australia
Excellence Award – Youth Center for Music and Arts, Inc USA for exemplary performance at the United Nations, New York, USA

Ramdas Palsule is a popular name amongst Indian Classical Music enthusiasts and has carved a niche for himself since a very young age.

Born in well-educated family in Pune, his father Shri. Gajanan Palsule was a recipient of the prestigious Kalidas Sanman President’s award for his work in Sanskrit literature and for his Sanskrit book on Veer Savarkar. An alumnus of prestigious alma – maters like Jnana Prabodhin Prashala and College of Engineering, Pune, Ramdas has a strong academic foundation. He was introduced to Tabla by Pt. G.L. Samant. Later, he became the disciple of world-famous Tabla Maestro Taalyogi Pandit Suresh Talwalkar. It was after achieving his Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering that he chose his passion as his profession.

Ramdas chose his passion over a beaten path and an assured successful career in engineering at the age of twenty-three and ever since has been a devout torchbearer of the illustrious tradition of Indian Classical Music. Under the capable guidance of Taalyogi Pandit Suresh Talwalkar, Ramdas, with his natural ingenuity, relentless toil and insatiable thirst for knowledge made quick strides as an acclaimed soloist and a versatile accompanist.

As a solo artist, Ramdas developed his own style of presenting traditional compositions with a new perspective and fresh thought-process. As his Guru says, “Innovation without the foundation of Tradition becomes superficial and Tradition – without Innovation – becomes outdated.” Ramdas mastered the craft of “Jod-Taal” and “Jaati-Bhed” to acquire unparalleled expertise in these. He earned the praise of connoisseurs and patriarchs alike with his refreshingly vivid style or presentation and is aptly known as a “Riyaazi” (hard-working) artist in the fraternity.

Apart from being a proficient Solo Artist, Ramdas also proved his dexterity as a versatile accompanist with Vocalists, Instrumentalists and Dancers from both, the Hindustani and Carnatic style of Classical Music. Doyens like Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki, Pt. Jasraj, Vidushi Prabha Atre, Vidwan M. Balamuralikrishna, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasiya, Pr. Ram Narayan, Pt. Birju Maharaj and many more trusted him as an able accompanist for their performances the world over.

He has enthralled audiences with his enchanting solo performances as well as accompaniments at prestigious concerts like The Sawai Gandharva Sangeet Mahotsav (Pune), Saptak Festival (Ahmedabad), All India Radio, and SPICMACAY, Isha Foundation’s Yaksha 2020, Dussehra Festival (Mysuru), All Bengal Festival (Kolkata), Tansen Mahotsav (Gwalior), Kalidas Festival (Ujjain), Pt. Abhisheki Mahotsav (Goa) and many more.

He also has performed in countries like U.S.A., Canada, U.K., Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Australia, many countries in Africa, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Gulf Countries.

Besides being an artist of repute himself, Ramdas is an avid academic. His rich educational background helps him understand the nuances of learning and teaching alike. A strong advocate of the Guru Shishya Parampara – he believes that Art needs to be ingrained with Sanskar. Ramdas ji imparts training to the younger generation of students of Tabla free of cost. Since 1992, many students from all over India and abroad have been learning from him and a number of them have also made their mark in the field of Classical Music as performers.

He is serves as a Guru at The Lalit Kala Kendra (Center for Performing Arts) of University of Pune since 1997, and at Bharti Vidyapeeth School of Performing Arts. Ramdas is a founding member and Guru at Avartan Gurukul, a unique Gurukul started in Pune in 2016. He insists on nourishing and nurturing students not only as accomplished artists, but beyond that as humble, cultured and judicious citizens who would add value to the Nation and the society at large. This only underlines his dedication and devotion towards the cause of Indian Classical Music and his genuine urge to make a difference to the society at large.

Since 2001, Ramdas also has been arranging concerts in North America thereby providing a platform for Indian Musicians and Dancers as well as propagating Indian Classical Music. Thanks to him, music aficionados in America have been treated to the performances of amazing artists like Pt. Sanjeev Abhyankar, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Pt. Parthosarathy Chowdhary, Vidwan M. Manjunath, Smt. Savani Shende, Pt. Uday Bhawalkar and many others.

Besides music, as a socially responsible citizen, he has been organizing a Blood Donation Camp every year since 2001. In collaboration with Rotary Club of Pune Westend and Maharashtra Mandal (Bay Area, California, USA), he helped raise funds for musicians who were economically affected due to CoVid-19 Pandemic under project “Saath”. He was also one of the organizers of a concert namely “Artist for Artist” to help all the instruments makers in flood-affected Sangli-Kolhapur areas in 2019.

Thus, Ramdas Palsule is way beyond an imminent artist. He is a humble student, a passionate teacher, an intellectual academic, zealous entrepreneur and most importantly a suave ambassador for Indian Classical Music. He is indeed a role – model for generations to come.