Description
Concert by Aditya Prakash
Aditya Prakash – vocal
Shiva Ramamurthi – violin
Rohan Krishnamurthy – mridangam
Aditya Prakash is an award-winning Indian classical vocalist and composer, best known for his powerful and emotive voice. Although firmly rooted in South Indian classical (Carnatic) music, which he studied under venerated Gurus in Chennai, his style is heavily inspired by North Indian classical music, Suf music, jazz, and hip hop, which he brings out in his collaborative cross-over genre projects.
Aditya has had the rare fortune of performing, touring and working with Sitar Maestro, Pandit Ravi Shankar, since the age of 16. Aditya toured with Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar, as the lead vocalist in Ravi Shankar’s “Festival of India III” ensemble, taking him to the most prestigious venues across the USA, Canada and Europe. Aditya has collaborated with leading names such as Karsh Kale, Anoushka Shankar and Salim Merchant to name a few.
Aditya is the founder of the acclaimed performing group Aditya Prakash Ensemble, which creates original compositions inspired by the styles of Indian classical, folk, jazz, funk, and hip hop.
Aditya has been performing classical Carnatic vocal concerts since the age of 13 and has performed solo concerts at prominent venues throughout the world. While pursuing an Ethnomusicology degree from UCLA (University of California Los Angeles), Aditya studied composition and performance under award-winning musicians such as Tamir Hendelman, Kenny Burrell, and Shujaat Khan. Aditya continues his training with advanced mentorship in Carnatic music under reputable musicians – T. M. Krishna and R. K. Shriramkumar – while receiving firm grounding under legendary Gurus – Sri P.S. Narayanaswami and Sri Palai Ramachandran.
Shiva Ramamurthi is a disciple of Violin Maestro Shri Delhi P. Sunder Rajan. He initially started learning violin from Shri Krishna Kutty at the age of 6. He was introduced to Carnatic Music at the age of 4, taking vocal lessons from Smt. Padma Kutty. He has been under the guidance of his guru, Shri Delhi P. Sunder Rajan since 2001. He has performed in various venues throughout the U.S. and India, and has been participating regularly in the December season in Chennai since 2011. He has had the privilege of accompanying senior artists such as Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri Madurai T.N. Seshagopalan, Sangeetha Kalanidhi Smt. S. Sowmya, and Sri D. Seshachary of the Hyderabad Brothers among others. He received the “Best Violinist” award by the Music Academy at the 2017 Spirit of Youth Festival. He is currently working and living in San Francisco, California.
Indian-American drummer and composer Dr. Rohan Krishnamurthy imagines new artistic intersections to bridge diverse cultures and traditions. Acclaimed a “musical ambassador” by The Times of India, Rohan received mridangam training from maestro Sri. Guruvayur Dorai in India. Rohan’s prolific artistry also explores the intersections of Indian percussion and drum set. He studied drum set with Alan Hall at the California Jazz Conservatory. Rohan has performed internationally with the leading artists of Indian classical music and led numerous cross-genre collaborations. His latest crossover work is The Alaya Project, which bridges the worlds of Carnatic music and contemporary jazz and funk. Rohan received a Ph.D. in musicology from the Eastman School of Music in New York. He has taught at renowned institutions, including Eastman, Harvard, Berklee College of Music, A.R. Rehman’s K.M. Conservatory of Music, Munich Conservatory, Kyoto University, and Percussive Arts Society. He directs the RohanRhythm Percussion Studio, which has attracted dozens of students from around the globe. Rohan recently received grants to study tabla with maestro Pt. Swapan Chaudhuri at the Ali Akbar College of Music and explore the crossover between the techniques and repertoire of the mridangam and tabla. An innovator, he patented the RohanRhythm drum tuning system, which is available worldwide.