Ajoy Chakrabarty

One of the best known singers of the country, Ajoy Chakrabarty is the recipient of laurels, both in academics and in the world of music. Initiated into music by his father, Shri Ajit Chakraborty, he also trained under Shri Kanaidas Bairagi, Ustad Munawar Ali Khan and the legendary Guru, Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh. He is equally adept at various forms of vocal music ranging from pure Raag Sangeet to film songs. With his characteristic insight and analytical abilities he has been most effective in seminars and workshops all over the world. He joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1978 as its first scholar and later went on to become one of the youngest gurus of this academy, a post that he still holds.

Amarendra Dhaneshwar

Well known all over India as an active media person, Amarendra Dhaneshwar is a skilled vocalist of the Gwalior Gharana and has been training under Smt Neela Bhagwat. He has been writing regularly for Bombay Times, Indian Express, Loksatta etc. He has also conceived and co-ordinated several productions on raag Sangeet like Raag Rang, Ninad, Aalaap etc for Doordarshan and private television channels. He has also given solo recitals at various venues in India and abroad.

Amit Mukerjee

Amit Mukerjee represents the famous tradition of the Kirana Gharana and Ustad Amir Khan’s individualistic school of khayal singing. He was trained under Shri Shankar Mazumdar, a senior disciple of the Late Ustad. Shri Mukerjee has been a geologist by profession but has also had a successful record of performances and lecture-demonstrations in India, Europe and the US. Now Shri Mukerjee is the Executive Director of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata. With his wide knowledge, coupled with conceptual clarity and excellent teamwork, he was able to inspire and develop the ITC SRA website in 2001.

Arvind Parikh

The senior-most disciple of the legendary sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan, Arvind Parikh has been amongst India’s leading sitarists, with a performing career spanning over five decades. He is also an incisive musicologist and a veritable powerhouse of initiatives aimed at promoting the interests of Hindustani classical music in India and abroad. He has featured at almost all major festivals of music in India and in Europe, and has had very successful concert tours in several parts of West Asia, Far East and Australasia. Awarded the Gaurav Puruskar by the Gujrat State Sangeet Natak Academy, he was the vice president of International Music Council (UNESCO) during 1994-97.

Ashok D Ranade

A musicologist and a musician of equal competence, Ashok D Ranade has a considerably huge and varied background of training. He has learnt from Gajanan Rao Joshi of the Gwalior and Jaipur gharanas, Prahalad Ganu of Agra and Laxmanrao Joshi of Gwalior. He has a vast field of activity as a composer, lecturer and author besides being a performer. He has also held prestigious positions in various institutions in India. Known for his in-depth knowledge and fluent speeches, Dr. Ranade features regularly at all kinds of seminars on Hindustani music. He has authored many books including ‘Hindustani music’ and ‘Essays in Indian Ethnomusicology’.

Ashwini Bhide Deshpande

One of the foremost vocalists of India now, Ashwini Bhide Deshpande began her training at the age of five, under the guidance of Pandit Narayanrao Datar. Later, she received extensive talim from her mother Smt Manik Bhide. Ashwini has inherited all that was best in her mother’s style and has been able to add a lot to her repertoire with great sensitivity and intellect, making every concert an aesthetically pleasing experience. Presently, she is receiving guidance from Pandit Ratnakar Pai, the veteran of the Jaipur gharana. She belongs to the rare category of “thinking musicians” and is well known for her oratory skills.

Bikram Ghosh

As a percussionist, Bikram Ghosh figures prominently amongst the best in the world today. The worthy son and disciple of tabla maestro Pandit Shankar Ghosh, Bikram has also studied Carnatic taal systems under the eminent mridangam exponent, Shri S Sekhar. Equally at ease in both Hindustani and carnatic concerts, he has collaborated with many pop, jazz and western classical artistes. Rhythmscape, Bikram’s maiden project as a composer, showcases the fertile imagination of this brilliant artiste. An educated and analytical person, he is known for his oratory skills and is a fluent speaker on various topics on music.

Buddhadev Das Gupta

Buddhadev Das Gupta is the senior most exponent of one of the most authentic sarode gharanas today. He received rigorous training from the sarode maestro, Sangeetacharya Radhika Mohan Maitra for nearly 40 years. A veteran performer at all the major festivals for over five decades, he has been honoured with many awards including the Sangeet Natak Academy Award and ITC Award. He has done considerable research work on sarode and music in general, and is known for his lucid articles and lectures. At present, he is attached to the ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a Guru of the instrumental division and is also a member of its Experts Committee. He is currently the chairperson of the West Bengal State Music Academy.

Buddhadev Guha

A multi-faceted personality and a remarkable achiever in diverse fields, Shri Buddhadev Guha is a well-known face in the cultural world. A practicing chartered accountant and a leading Bengali novelist and short story writer; he is a trained vocalist too. He was a student at Dakshinee and had also learnt under the eminent Rabindrasangeet exponent Late Debabrata Biswas. He has studied Puratani Bengali songs under Shri Chandidas Mal. Among his varied assignments and positions that he has held he has been a member of the Akashvani Audition Board, the Regional Committee of Film Censor Board, and is at present a member of the Wildlife Advisory Board, West Bengal. Honoured with numerous awards including the Ananda Puruskar, Shri Guha attends classical music soirees regularly and is a well known connoisseur.

Deepak Raja is a sitar and surbahar player of the Etawah Gharana. He has studied with late Pulin Deb Burman and Pandit Arvind Parikh. He also studies Khayal with Dhondutai Kulkarni of the Jaipur Atrauli Gharana. He is a columnist on Hindustani Music for SRUTI and a repertoire analyst for India Archive Music Ltd., New York. He has recently published a book entitled “Hindustani Music-a tradition in transition”. By profession, Deepak Raja is a media and financial analyst.

Dipali Nag

This grand old lady of Hindustani music has been well known in the music world for more than six decades now. Her activities have ranged from being a concert performer, teacher, writer, orator to being an advisor to the Scientific Research Department, ITC Sangeet Research Academy. She has been fortunate to have received extensive talim from three doyens of the Agra Gharana namely, Ustad Tassaduq Hussain Khan, Ustad Fayyaz Khan and Ustad Bashir Khan. In addition, she has a diploma on voice from the Trinity College, London. She has featured regularly at seminars all over the world. With considerable command over several languages, she has authored a book on Ustad Fayyaz Khan and has written numerous articles on music.\

Gajendra Narain Singh

A well-known personality in the world of music, Gajendra Naraian Singh is a prolific writer and an exemplary teacher and orator, deeply interested in the dissemination of India’s culture especially amongst young people. He has been trained in music by Pandit Vinayak Rao Patwardhan and has learnt Kathakali from the renowned Guru Kelu Nair. He has played a major role in the revival of dhrupad traditions especially of the Betiya Gharana. He has also played a major role in the activities of the Bihar Sangeet Natak Academy. In appreciation of his contributions to the world of music, he has been awarded ‘Bihar Gaurav’ & ‘Bihar Ratna’.

Nayan Ghosh

Acclaimed as one of India’s finest tabla players, Nayan Ghosh has received intensive and immaculate training from his late father, the renowned maestro Pandit Nikhil Ghosh. His elder uncle was the legendary flautist Pandit Pannalal Ghosh.

Shri Ghosh is also acknowledged in India and around the world as an equally brilliant sitar player, a fact that gives his musicianship a unique dimension. He grew up in an enviable musical atmosphere amongst some of the great legends of Hindustani music. A highly sought after performer and articulate musician, he is considered a reference source for today’s younger musicians. He teaches regularly at Mumbai’s prestigious music academy, Sangeet Mahabharati.

Sanjoy Bandopadhyay

Sanjoy Bandopadhyay is a well known sitar player and presently the Chair-Professor [Ustad Allauddin Khan Chair] at the Department of Instrumental Music of Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. After his initial training from his father Shri Peeyush Prasanna Bandopadhyay he received talim under Sangeetacharya Radhika Mohan Maitra, and Pandit Bimalendu Mukherjee. He has also received guidance from Pandit. Manas Chakravarty, Pandit Ajay Sinha Roy and Dr. M.R. Gautam. His academic participation includes his presentations at the Plenary Session of UNESCO Global Conference held in Finland; International Conference of the German Musicological Society, Weimar, Germany and his visit as Distinguished India-Focus Visitor at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. He is involved in a number of national and international collaborative research projects.

Sankarlal Bhattacharjee


Sankarlal Bhattcharjee was born into a family where the way of life was books, politics and music. A topper in his Master’s examination in English, he switched over to Bangla journalism and creative writing and had co-authored Raag Anuraag with Pandit Ravi Shankar. He is considered among the best manipulators of the Bangla prose whether in creative writing or journalism and has to his name 30 books of fiction and non-fiction. His works include a novel based on the life of Sir William Jones, short stories on the lives of the fast disappearing Anglo-Indians of Kolkata, a travel – novel on Greece and a collection of essays on Paris. He has traveled extensively all over Europe and has written for the magazine Euro. Shri Bhattacharjee has been with the ABP Group for several years and currently writes for Sananda, the leading women’s magazine.

Shruti Sadolikar Katkar

Daughter and disciple of Pandit Wamanrao Sadolikar, Shruti Sadolikar also studied under Ustad Gulubhai Jasdanwala. At present she continues to learn from Ustad Azizuddin Khan. Besides being a regular concert performer, she has done considerable research work on various aspects of Hindustani music and is the recipient of several scholarships. One of her noteworthy projects is “Gayaki, Raga and Tala”. She has been a visiting professor to Rotterdam Conservatorium, Netherlands and takes a keen interest in seminars and workshops. She is currently a visiting guru at ITC Sangeet Research Academy.

Ulhas Kashalkar

In an age when maestros of the older generation express fear of the decadence of our grand tradition, Ulhas Kashalkar’s voice and music stand like a colossus, as it were, an eternal reminder of the strength of this great art. Shri Kashalkar was born in a family of musicians. His father, Shri N.D.Kashalkar initiated him into vocal music. In time, he was accepted as a disciple by such great masters of the art as Pandit Ram Marathe and Pandit Gajananbua Joshi. Thus he received training of the highest order in three distinct prominent gharanas - Gwalior, Agra and Jaipur. For over a decade now, he has been with the ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a Guru, producing numerous students of high calibre.

Vidyadhar Vyas

A regular concert performer of high order, Pandit Vidyadhar Vyas is the worthy son and disciple of the renowned vocalist of the Gwalior Gharana, Gayanacharya Pandit Narayan Rao Vyas. Possessing a remarkable combination of qualities of a performing artiste, a musicologist and an administrator, he excels in conducting lecture demonstrations, which are both enlightening and entertaining. He teaches Hindustani music in USA and Europe and is on the faculty of The Rotterdam Conservatorium in Europe as a visiting artiste-teacher. A highly educated person, he was the Principal of the Government Music College, Jaipur and has also been the head of the Music Department of the University of Mumbai. In 2004, he became the first duly selected Vice Chancellor of the Bhatkhande Music Institute Deemed University in Lucknow.

Vijay Kumar Kichlu

An erudite musician and a very fluent speaker, Vijay Kichlu is a well known name in musicological circles. His initial training in music commenced at the tender age of 7 with Pandit Nathuram Sharma. While in college at Varanasi, he became the disciple of Ustad Moinuddin Dagar and Ustad Latafat Hussain Khan. With an impressive record of performances all over the world, he was at the helm of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy since its inception till 2001. Recently, he has formed Sangeet Ashram that aims at the propagation of Hindustani Raag Sangeet. He has been honoured with a title of “Kala Vipanchee” by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna Trust, Chennai and the title of “Sangeet Ratna” by Salt Lake Cultural Association, Kolkata.