Ravi Shankar, was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Indian classical music in the second half of the 20th century, and influenced many musicians in India and throughout the world. Shankar was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1999.
Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi, also known by the honorific prefix Pandit, was one of the greatest Indian vocalists from Karnataka, in the Hindustani classical tradition. He is known for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music. Joshi belongs to the Kirana gharana tradition of Hindustani Classical Music. He is noted for his concerts, and between 1964 and 1982 Joshi toured Afghanistan, Italy, France, Canada and USA. He was the first musician from India whose concerts were advertised through posters in New York City. Joshi was instrumental in organising the Sawai Gandharva Music Festival annually, as homage to his guru, Sawai Gandharva.
Pandit Jasraj was an Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Mewati gharana. His musical career spanned 75 years resulting in national and international fame, respect and numerous major awards and accolades. His legacy includes memorable performances of classical and semi-classical vocal music, classical and devotional music, albums and film soundtracks, innovations in various genres including Haveli Sangeeth and popularizing the Mewati Gharana - a school of thought in Hindustani classical music. Pandit Jasraj taught music to amateur and professional students in India, Europe, Canada and the United States.
Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan is an Indian classical sitar maestro from the Imdadkhani gharana. He represents the seventh generation of the Etawah Gharana as its primary exponent. He is praised especially for the vocalistic phrasing and quality of his raga improvisations, known as "Gayaki Ang." This translates to "Singing branch/limb". The sitar legend, Ustad Vilayat Khan resurrected and re-introduced Gayaki Ang as a widely accepted sitar genre in India and abroad, and his nephew, Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan has carried this torch into the present day.
Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande was an Indian musicologist who wrote the first modern treatise on Hindustani classical music, an art which had been propagated for centuries mostly through oral traditions. During those earlier times, the art had undergone several changes, rendering the raga grammar documented in scant old outdated texts.
Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee is an Indian classical sitar and surbahar maestro of the Imdadkhani gharana (school), recognizable by his intricate vocalic playing complemented by spectacular high speed playing. He holds a unique distinction of being the ever first artist in history to perform in the House of Commons, London. Famously proclaimed the "sitar artist of the century" by veena great Balachander, he has performed in thousands of concerts since the 1970s in India, America, Australia, the UAE, and almost all of Europe.
Pandit Kumar Bose, born 4 April 1953, is an Indian tabla musician and composer of Indian classical music.
Pandit Nayan Ghosh is an Indian Tabla and Sitar maestro. He is a tabla player from the Farrukhabad Gharana.
Ustad Vilayat Khan was an Indian classical sitar player. Along with Imdad Khan, Enayat Khan, and Imrat Khan, he is credited with the creation and development of gayaki ang on the sitar.
Arvind Parikh is an Indian classical sitar player.
Kashinath Mukherjee was a Hindustani classical musician and sitar player of Etawah Gharana. Kashinath Mukherjee was born in Kolkata into an aristocratic family having a rich cultural heritage. His father Shital Chandra Mukherjee was a scientist specialized in chemistry, as well as a learned dhrupad singer. He is younger brother of film director Hrishikesh Mukherjee. His family consists of academics. Inspired by elder brother Hrishikesh Mukherjee, he started to play sitar before starting to learn formally. His younger brother is Dwarkanath Mukherjee, a screenplay writer for many Bollywood films. Later he learned sitar from Srinivas Nag for twelve years. After the death of Srinivas Nag, he was under the tutelage of Ustad Vilayat Khan, one of the greatest sitarists. During this period he kept away from public appearances, as directed by his Ustad (master). His close association with legends like Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Amir Khan, and Ustad Keramat Ullah Khan informed his musical views. Due to his inclination towards Amir Khan's singing, he learned from Amir Khan until Khan's death.
Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan was an Indian sitar player. Khan received the national awards Padma Shri (1970) and Padma Bhushan (2006) and was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1987.
Paul Livingstone is an American sitarist, composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is one of the few American disciples of Pandit Ravi Shankar, also trained under Rajeev Taranath and Amiya Dasgupta all of the Senia Maihar Gharana.
Swara Samrat festival is a four-day annual festival of Indian classical music and dance held during the winters in Kolkata, India. This festival is the brainchild of Sarod maestro Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, his vocalist wife, Manasi Majumder and their Sarod player-son Indrayuddh Majumder. The festival is dedicated to Swara Samrat Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Indian Classical Music and Dance Legends such as Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pandit Jasraj, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Aashish Khan, Dr. Girija Devi, Begum Parveen Sultana, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, Guru Karaikudi Mani, Ustad Rashid Khan, Shankar Mahadevan, Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee, Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, Pandit Venkatesh Kumar, Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, Pandit Sanjay Mukherjee, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Ustad Shujaat Khan, Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, Pandit Kushal Das, Pandit Rajendra Gangani, Guru Sujata Mohapatra, Pandit Subhankar Banerjee, Pandit Yogesh Samsi, Pandit Bickram Ghosh, Pandit Tanmoy Bose and Kaushiki Chakraborty are some of the artists who have previously performed in this festival.
Chhandayan, Inc. (Chhandayan) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization focused on the preservation and advancement of Indian classical music. Chhandayan was founded in 1984 by Samir Chatterjee, the current Artistic Director and President. Its activities span various areas of music education which include organizing concerts and pre-concert lectures, classes (theory and performance), workshops, and archival research. Chhandayan’s primary operations are based out of its New York City headquarters, the Chhandayan Center for Indian Music (CCIM), but its activities are carried out in six local chapters.
Kamala Bose (Bengali) (1947–2012) was a prominent Indian classical vocalist.
Pandit Kushal Das, born in Kolkata in 1959, is an Indian classical sitar and surbahar player.
Ramprapanna Bhattacharya is an Indian classical sitarist of the Etawah Gharana.
Pandit Manilal Nag is an Indian classical sitar player and an exponent of the Bishnupur gharana of Bengal. He was given the Padma Shri Award, the fourth highest civilian award in India in 2020.
Aayush Mohan is an Indian Classical Musician who plays the Sarod. He performs in the style of Maihar Gharana of Hindustani Classical Music. He is a four-time TEDx speaker and has worked towards creating cultural awareness in India. He frequently performs Jugalbandi(duet) with his brother Lakshay Mohan who is a Sitar player and the two are known as Mohan Brothers. Aayush Mohan and Lakshay Mohan are the first Indians to be invited to perform at the Grammy Museum, Los Angeles for the opening of the exhibition 'Ravi Shankar : A Life in Music'.
