Maharaj Krishen Raina, popularly known as M. K. Raina, is an Indian theatre actor and director. Raina graduated from National School of Drama in 1970 with the Best Actor award.
Mr.Shubhendra Rao is a composer and sitar player who's ranked amongst the top soloists of India. The press describes him as "a musical bridge to many cultures" and "a thinking musician, constantly endeavouring to carry his instrument beyond conventional boundaries". His music is "an experience that is not aimed at titillating the senses, but to seize the soul".
Ustad Rashid Khan is an Indian classical musician in the Hindustani music tradition. He belongs to the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana, and is the great-grandson of gharana founder Inayat Hussain Khan. He is married to Soma Khan.
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.
The Etawah gharana is a North Indian school of sitar and surbahar music and named after a small town close to Agra where Imdad Khan (1848–1920) lived. It is also known as Imdadkhani gharana in the honour of its founder, Imdad Khan.
Kartik Seshadri is an Indian sitar player and teacher of Indian classical music. He is the director of the Indian Classical Music Ensemble at the University of California, San Diego.
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.
Abhik Mukherjee is an Indian classical sitar player from the Etawah gharana.
Pandit Vinayak Malharrao Torvi, is an Indian classical vocalist. He belongs to the Gwalior and Kirana gharanas.
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.
Ananda Gopal Bandopadhyay was an Indian tabla player. He was trained in the style of the Benaras Gharana by his teacher Mahadev Prasad Mishra. His father, Radha Gopal Bandopadhyay, was an amateur vocalist. Bandopadhyay has accompanied several notable vocal musicians, as well as producing solo recordings, and giving solo performances.
Pandit Kushal Das, born in Kolkata in 1959, is an Indian classical sitar and surbahar player.
Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan is an Indian classical singer and teacher from the Kirana musical style. As the grandson of Abdul Karim Khan, a founder of the Kirana style, he is a descendant of the gharana's family lineage. He was educated by his father, sarangi player Shakoor Khan.
Sandip Bhattacharjee, is an Indian classical singer belonging to the Kirana gharana .His repertoire covers pure classical, Khyal, Thumris, Ghazals etc.
Subhamita Banerjee is a Bengali singer from Malda, India, who specializes in modern songs, Ghazals etc. She has many Bengali albums to her credit and is one of the well known singers in the Bengali music industry.
Indrani Mukherjee is a Hindustani classical vocalist and Thumri exponent in India. Her singing repertoire covers Khyal and Thumri.
Prodyut Mukherjee is also known as a "Tabla Maestro" and world's premier tabla player. He won the Global India Music Academy Award in 2016 for his album Rhythm Express-Moods with Padma Bhushan Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. He is a noted composer, soloist, fusion & classical musician with wide range of musical albums in his credit.
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'.
