Buddhadev Das Gupta - Sarod
ITC SRA Guru
Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta is the senior most exponent of one of the most authentic sarode gharanas today. One of the better-known cultural ambassadors of our country, he was born in 1933 at Bhagalpur and started his training from the age of ten from the sarode maestro Pandit Radhika Mohan Maitra. His training continued for a period of 38 years until the demise of his teacher – the longest and most intensive training imparted by the great maestro to a disciple.

Since Pandit Radhika Mohan Maitra took his talim from Md. Ameer Khan, whose gharana’s forte was the rabab-style of playing and also from Md. Dabir Khan of the Rampur- Senia gharana, his style is based largely on that of his teacher’s - emerging from a synthesis of the two gharanas. However, it is his unique musical personality that has shaped a distinctive style, completely his own. A deep understanding of the raga, a rare accuracy of the swaras, a superb balance between gayaki and tantrakari, together with powerful bol patterns and fluent ekhara taans, of which he has been a pioneer, mark his music.

He started broadcasting at the age of 16 and has featured in over 20 National concerts and Radio Sangeet Sammelans. A veteran performer at all the major festivals for over five decades, he also has a number of commercial recordings to his credit.

He has done considerable research work on sarode and music in general, and is known for his lucid articles and lectures. He has held audiences spellbound with his bandishes based on Rabindranath Tagore’s songs, a unique concept pioneered by him.

He has been honoured with many awards including the Sangeet Natak Academy Award (1993), Shiromani Award (1989), ITC Award (2002), Ustad Chand Khan Memorial Award (2006), Bhuwalka Award (2006), Legends of India Lifetime Achievement Award (2007) and Pracheen Kala Kendra Award (2007).

Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta is an accomplished teacher. His education, articulation and communicative abilities have combined with intelligent teaching techniques to ensure that his students become able performers.

At present, he is a Guru of ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata, and is also as a member of its Experts Committee He is also the Chairman of the West Bengal State Sangeet Academy.

Manali Bose - Vocal
ITC SRA Scholar
Manali Bose received preliminary training from her parents and then from Smt Debjani Basu, a disciple of late Pandit A. Kanan. An English (Honours) graduate of the University of Calcutta, in 1999 she received a scholarship in khayal from Anun Lund Rej Fund (ALR Fund), Norway. In 1995 she stood first in bhajan in the West Bengal State Music Academy competition and has performed in the Children’s Section and Special Bengali Service of All India Radio. She joined the Academy as a general class student in 1996 and since June 2006 she has become a scholar, being trained by Pandit Arun Bhaduri. She received the ‘Sangeet Piyasi Scholarship’ in khayal in the year 2000-01. Manali has recently stood first in the Khayal category of the All India Radio Music Competition, 2007.

Shiv Kumar Sharma - Santoor
Once in a long while is born a man whose efforts change the face of reality, whose conviction forces destiny to rewrite itself, whose genius has an impact across centuries. To state that Pandit Shivkumar Sharma has created history in the world of music, is an understatement, an inadequate attempt to capture the maestro’s achievements and contributions. After all how many musicians can boast of single handedly bringing forth an obscure, almost unknown instrument to the level of being “indispensable” on the concert platform! Musicians and their instruments do become synonyms, but how often does an instrument acquire an identity because of a musician!

Santoor, the folk instrument from the valley of Kashmir, owes its classical status to Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. In the early decades of the twentieth century, Santoor or Shata-Tantri Veena as it was called in the ancient times, was used as an accompaniment to a specific type of singing called Sufiana Mausiqi. When Pandit Uma Dutt Sharma, a renowned vocalist from Jammu, and a disciple of Pt. Bade Ramdasji of Benaras spotted it, he was convinced of the potentialities of the instrument. After extensive research on the instrument he bestowed the responsibility of establishing it on the concert platform on his only son Shivkumar. The rest, as they say, is history.

However, the road to success was far from smooth. After several radio broadcasts and performances he appeared for his national level concert in Mumbai in 1955. This was a turning point in his life where he received applause as well as was severely criticized by the orthodox sections of musicians and listeners. Santoor according to them was not a complete instrument on which one could play classical music. Instead of getting disheartened or discouraged, in his characteristic manner he took these criticisms as a challenge. After in-depth research, he made some important modifications on this hundred stringed instrument, like a new chromatic arrangement of notes and increased the range to cover full three octaves. Besides, he also created a new technique of playing with which he could sustain notes and maintain sound continuity. Today Santoor is at par with any classical instrument, well established not just all over India, but across the globe.

With his creative genius, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma has created a new genre of instrumental music. Through his performance career of over a half century, he has created millions of new listeners and ardent fans of Indian classical music. His performances are such a brilliant combination of rich knowledge, perfect skill and abundant spontaneous creativity, that all the sections of listeners feel enriched. Little surprise that his concerts are awaited by connoisseurs, music students, musicians and lay listeners alike.

He believes in the immortality of this great heritage of Indian classical music and wishes to leave no stone unturned to make it so. With this aim in mind, he has been imparting his knowledge to the next generation of musicians. So deep is his conviction that despite no institutional or government support, he has been teaching in the Guru Shishya tradition, without charging a fee from his students, who come to him from all the corners of India as well as different parts of the world like Japan, Germany, Australia and America.

While he never compromises on the purity of music, Pt. Sharma’s open minded approach has resulted in some of the most popular, innovative experimental albums like Call of the Valley, Feelings, Mountains, etc. In fact he is among those rare musicians who have been able to create successfully in the world of film music as well. Now for over forty years Santoor is an indispensable part of Indian film music. His compositions for blockbusters like Silsila, Lamhe, Chandni, Darr, etc. are all time favourites across the country.

Music, he believes, is food for the soul. Naturally, his music is meditative and soothing at the same time. His immense faith in the ancient wisdom of Vedanta has resulted in creation of music for Shlokas from the Upanishads and a new raag called Antardhwani.

Various recording companies from India and overseas have tried to capture Pt. Sharma’s genius for the last forty years. Today he has over 100 recordings to his credit in LPs, CDs, audio cassettes and even DVDs. In fact he is the only classical musician who has agreed to do a music video in order to appeal to the young generation.

Naturally, a musician with such a vast spectrum of achievements has a long list of National and International awards conferred upon him like the Honorary Citizen for the City of Baltimore, USA (1985), Sangeet Natak Academy Award (1986), Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar (1990), Honorary Doctorate from the University of Jammu (1991) Padmashree (1991), Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan Award (1998), and Padma Vibhushan (2001), to name a few.

Born in 1938, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, a musician par excellence, a great composer, an understanding, kind guru, a sensitive and aware citizen, this living legend is truly a personification of the Indian ethos and values. The world of music will forever be indebted to him for his incredible contribution.

Samar Saha -Tabla
Known for his dexterity and rare musicianship, Samar Saha was initially trained by his father Shri Sudhangshu Bhusan Saha and his elder brother Shri Tarak Saha. Later he received extensive taalim from Shri Satchidananda Goswami before becoming a disciple of Shri Krishna Kumar Ganguly (Natu Babu) of the Benaras gharana. A much sought-after soloist as well as an accompanist, he has participated in all the prestigious music festivals in India and overseas, accompanying vocalists and instrumentalists alike. He has been a full time faculty member of ITC Sangeet Research Academy since its inception. Since 1993, he has been encouraging young performers by organising concerts and awarding scholarships through the non-governmental organisation ‘Sangeet Piyasi’.

Yogesh Samsi – Tabla
Born in 1968 into a rich musical tradition, Shri Yogesh Samsi inherited music from his father Pandit Dinkar Kaikini, a renowned vocalist and also from his mother Smt Shashikala Kaikini, a musician of repute. He learnt tabla initially from Pandit H.Taranath Rao and thereafter was under the tutelage of the renowned maestro Ustad Allah Rakha of the Punjab gharana. An ‘A’ graded artist of A.I.R & Doordarshan, he has given many solo performances and accompanied many musicians of repute such as Pandit Dinkar Kaikini, Pandit K.G.Ginde, Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Ram Narain, Ustad Sultan Khan, Smt Shobha Gurtu, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Ustad Rashid Khan and Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty. He has had the privilege of accompanying his guru Ustad Allah Rakha and Ustad Zakir Hussain in their solo performances. He has performed in prestigious music festivals all over India and in Europe, USA, Canada, Japan & South Africa. In 1992 he accompanied the renowned sarangi player Pandit Ram Narayan in the World Music Festival in Berlin, Germany. In 1997, he participated in the World Music Conference in the Theatre de La Ville in Paris, France.

Jyoti Goho - Harmonium
Inspired by his mother’s melodious voice, Jyoti Goho acquired a keen interest in music, which was carefully nurtured by his parents. Initially he was trained in vocal music by Shri Sanat Banerjee, Shri Biren Bose and Pandit A. Kanan Later he developed the art of harmonium playing under the tutelage of Shri Deb Kumar Banerjee. His knowledge of vocal music allows him to understand and adjust according to the mood and spirit of the performer, thus increasing his popularity amongst all the eminent vocalists of the present generation. He has performed at almost all the major venues within the country as well as abroad. He has been a faculty member of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy for more than two decades.

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