Kal Ke Kalakaar 2021 Brochure

Aratrika Dey will be performing Raag Shudh Saraang followed by Hori. 
She is a sophomore at The College of New Jersey. She started her training at an early age, from Smt. Sukla Nag in Hindustani Classical. She is now under the tutelage of Smt. Mitali Banerjee Bhawmik in New Jersey. Aratrika has participated and won several music contests, including receiving first place in the prestigious vocal competition, “SaReGaMaPa Li’l Champs, NA, 2015” by Zee TV. She also had the honor of performing for the Pandit Jasraj Institute of Music. In her spare time, Aratrika enjoys reading and writing poetry.

Vikram Mukherjee is an aspiring student of Tabla and a Master’s Student at Rutgers University.  His first introduction to Tabla came at the age 6, at which he learned Benares Gharana under Shri John Portopapas.  Later, Vikram went for tutelage under the love and guidance of Pt. Samir Chatterjee of the Farrukhabad Gharana whom he has been studying Tabla with for the past 6 years.  In addition to Tabla, Vikram has also received musical training in Drum Set, Piano and Violin.  Since playing Tabla he has had the opportunity to collaborate with Carnatic Music, accompany Hindustani Music, and participate in Chhandayan’s Tablaphilia Ensemble. He would like to thank his Guru’s and his parents for their continued blessings and support. 

Anish Dharam is 16 years old. He is a 10th grade honors student at J P Stevens high School in Edison, New Jersey. Anish started learning Harmonium and Indian classical music at the age of 7 under the guidance of Shri Hemant Kulkarni, and he is continuing his music journey with Shri Kedar Naphade. Anish also learns Keyboard under the guidance of Shri Bobby Chatterjee. 
Anish has performed at various events in the US as well as in India. Marathi Vishwa’s programs in NJ, Pandit Jasraj Institute’s Mewati Sangeet Parv in New York, and in Pune, Hyderabad in India. Anish also sings in choir and has performed in various national level junior high honor choirs. Besides music, Anish enjoys reading, practicing Jiu Jitsu, and doing math.

Kalashree Gopal is a student of Smt. Mitali Bhawmik, and has been learning Indian classical vocal for multiple years.

Arohi Dandawate is a freshman at Oberlin College in Ohio. She has been practicing Kuchipudi for 13 years at the Nritya Madhavi School of Dance under the tutelage of Smt. Divya Yeluri in the style of Padmabhushan Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam. Arohi has performed in various venues, including the White House and the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana Festival. She has also learned folk and Bollywood dance from Smt. Madhavi Devasthale at Nupur School of Dance starting at the age of 3. Arohi graduated from Mannes Preparatory Pre-College at The New School in June 2020, having studied Classical Piano under Mrs. Elena Leonova for 9 years. She continues her study of Classical Piano at Oberlin Conservatory under Professor Scott Cuellar. Arohi also has been learning Tabla under her father and guru, Dr. Amod Dandawate.

Snehesh Nag started learning North Indian classical music and the sitar at the age of four from his father, sitar virtuoso Pt. Sugato Nag, belonging to the sarod gharana of Senia Shahjahanpore. He also took lessons from Shri Pranab Naha during his early childhood. He was attached to the ITC Sangeet Research Academy (SRA) as a junior scholar from 2010 to 2015 under Guru Padma Bhushan Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta; advanced lessons from Pt. Das Gupta continued until his passing. In addition to the style of the Senia Shahjahanpore gharana, he infuses the Imdadakhani gharana style, taught by his father, into his playing. Furthermore, he frequently takes talim from the sarod maestro, Pt. Prattyush Banerjee. He has also learned the tabla from tabla maestro Pt. Tanmoy Bose and has taken vocal instruction from Shri Sandeep Nag.

Snehesh has been featured in various newspaper reviews such as The Hindu, wherein his playing has been addressed as one that blends a lot of “emotion, surprise elements, and aesthetic touches”. He has performed to learned audiences in Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Washington, Madison, Toronto and Vancouver. He stood second in the All India Radio (AIR) music competition, 2014, and was awarded the Acharya Allauddin Khan Memorial Award 2014 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai, in January 2015. He has become a regular performer for All India Radio. He currently is a recipient of the national scholarship recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

Amod Dandawate has been primarily trained in the Farrukhabad style under the discipleship of Pt. Samir Chatterjee. As a child he was exposed to the music of Tabla by his father Late Dr. Vasantrao Dandawate, but started his serious pursuit of the art form only after completing his bachelor’s degree in Engineering. He received initial guidance and encouragement from Shafaat Khan while performing as his accompanist and then spent some time taking lessons from Ustad. Zakir Hussain. Having settled in New Jersey since 1997 he finally found his Guru in Pt. Samir Chatterjee, a well-known Maestro of the Farrukhabad gharana (http://www.tabla.org). He has been receiving careful guidance in the guru-shishya parampara from Samirji for over a decade.

 Besides performing solo Tabla, Amod has supported classical Indian music performances and activities in the tri-state area as an able accompanist and a teacher as well. He maintains an active concert schedule and has accompanied many major artistes from India and the US.

 Apart from being a musician, Amod also holds a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering.