Pandit Yogesh Samsi Yogesh Samsi is one of those rare tabla players whose reputation has been built on his consummate artistry in both fields of accompaniment and solo playing. The son of the renowned vocalist Pandit Dinkar Kaikini, Yogesh Samsi was initiated into tabla by his father at the tender age of four, and later received guidance under Pandit H.Taranath Rao. However it was under the gifted tutelage of the legendary Ustad Alla Rakha that Yogesh received intense training for twenty three years and, matured into a fine young table player Yogesh has accompanied almost all the top ranking instrumentalists and vocalists and dancers of India, including Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pt Dinkar Kaikini, Pt Bhimsen Joshi, Pt Shivkumar Sharma, Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Pt Birju Maharaj. Apart from accompaniment Yogesh has performed numerous memorable solo performances in India and abroad. He has also had the privilege of accompanying his teacher Ustad Alla Rakha and his son the great maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain in their solo performances. Besides performing Yogesh has a sound scholastic approach to the subject and has taken several successful workshops in world music centres in India, U.S.A, U.K, South Africa and Japan. He is also a highly respected teacher, creating a syllabus for learning tabla designed specifically for teachers in the West, an initiative which is sure to have great benefits for the advancement of tabla worldwide. Yogesh has also worked on an instructional CD-Rom about tabla which is now available for students. With the growing influences of modern and fusion music, Yogesh Samsi strives to keep up his revered Guru's word of preserving the tradition in the presentation of tabla solo.
Pandit Rajgopal Kallurkar If it had’t been for the call of the tabla, Pt. Kallurkar might have continued his family’s priestly vocation in Kallur, a little town in Raichur district of northern Karnataka. When he was 15, the beauty of the tabla captivated him, and led him to Dharwad. In that musically vibrant city, Pandit Girish Avte, professor of tabla, Karnataka College, laid a firm foundation for Pt. Kallurkar’s percussive imagination. Impressed by his devotion, the master threw open to him the secrets of tabla playing, both solo and accompaniment. Every year, Pt. Kallurkar honors Pandit Avte’s memory by organizing a concert. Pt. Kallurkar did six – year music course from Karnatak University and earned the Sangeeta Ratna degree. During this period, he picked up the nuances of rhythm from some of the most revered names in Hindustani music. He then took up the Karnataka government’s tabla Vidwat exam, and won the first rank. His other academic achievements include a master’s degree in Sanskrit, and the Sangeetha Alankar degree from Gandharva Maha Mandal, Mumbai. In 1986, Pt. Kallurkar’s musical quest took him to Hyderabad, where Ustad Sheikh Dawood Khan lived. The legendary tabla maestro accepted him as a disciple, and trained him rigorously for five years. Thanks to that stint, Pt. Kallurkar’s robust fingers acquired polish and subtlety.On his return to Dharwad, Pt. Kallurkar founded the Kallur Mahalakshmi Tabla Vidyalaya and become principal. He now teaches, and plays regularly on radio, television and on stage. Vocalists admire Pt. Kallurkar for his sensitive accompanying style. His solo performances are a fine blend of the scholar and the artiste in him. The Joy of tabla is Pt. Kallurkar’s solo album. Pt. Kallurkar serves as a member of the Karnataka government’s music textbook committee. He is also on the panel of examiners for tabla exams conducted by the Karnataka State Music Education Board.
Sri Nagaraj Rao Gaikwad: Sri Nagaraj Rao Gaikwad (born 1958) our Tabla and Hindustani music teacher at NaVaRaSa has a repertoire of qualifications in music from Tabla Nisharad, Tabla Biwakar, Karnataka State Vidwath, Sangeetha Ratna, Sangeetha Visharad and Vidwath, Sangeetha Bivakar to Sangeetha Probar. He has played and accompanied noted singers for music institutions like Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Hindustan Kalakar Mandali, Sangeeth Krupa Kuteer, Shruthi, Devagiri Sangeetha Sabha and also Bangalore and Hyderabad Doordarshan. He took his initial training in Tabla from his father Shri Shankar Rao Gaikwad. Later, he continued his learning under Late Nadayogi Veena Maharaj Swami D. R Parvatekar. He has taken advanced training under pt. Sheshagiri Hangal. After many years of persevering, learning and concert experience, he has carved for himself a niche both as a sensitive accompanist and a delightful soloist. In his accompaniment to both vocalists and instrumentalists, he has endeared to the artistes he has accompanied and the discerning audience who graced the occasion. The words of appreciation he has received from eminent artistes like Pt. D. B. Harindra Bharadwaj, Pt. Rama Rao, V. Naik, Pt. R. V. Seshadri gavai, Pt. V. M. Nagaraj, Pt. N.R. Rama Rao, Smt. Devaki Das and a host of others, and the praise bestowed on him by the press bear a testimony to his success. An enthusiastic teacher, he takes interest in training youngsters and has been teaching interested learners. He has the promise and potential of a good artiste and is sure to reach greater heights in the art of Tabla playing in the years to come. He has accompanied – Pt. Vasudeva Murthy (Violin), Pt. Sampath Kumar Acharya (Santoor), Ustaad Abdul Kareem Khan Puyatithi, Shri . P. Sudershan (Raga Darshini Instrument) to mention a few more names from a huge list of artistes.
Vidwan Sri Anoor R. Anantha Krishna Sharma: Anoor R. Anantha Krishna Sharma was born in Bangalore, a city with rich cultural heritage, to a family of great musicians. He is considered as an eminent percussionist (Mridangam) in the whole of India. His great grandfather Vidwan late Subaraya Shastri and his grand father Vidwan late Anoor Shamanna were fine veena artists. His father Ganakala Bhushana Vidwan late Anoor S. Ramakrishna was a well-known violinist and an eminent teacher too in the Dept. of Music of Bangalore University. He was initiated to learn Mridangam by Vidwan R. A. Rajagopal, who was a highly accomplished Mridangam / Ghatam artist and a senior staff of All India Radio, Bangalore. Drawing on his long concert career from an early age of fifteen and a number of significant encounters with other great musicians, Anantha Krishna Sharma is known for his own style. As an accompanying artiste, he has performed with many renowned artistes such as Dr. R.K.Srikantan, Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna, M. L. Vasantha Kumari, T. V. Gopalakrishnan, Dr. N. Ramani, K.S. Gopalakrishnan, B.N. Suresh, Violin Trio of H.V.Krishnamurthy, Anoor Ramakrishna, A. Veerabhadraiah, Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, M. S. Gopalakrisnan, Sudha Raghunathan, T. V. Shankaranarayana, Bombay Sisters, Madurai T. N. Sheshagopalan, Trichur V. Ramachandran, Dr. S.Ramanathan, Sanjay Subramanyam, Unnikrishna, T.M. Krishna, Maharajapuram Santanam, T. R. Subrahmanyam, Vijaysiva, Neyveli Santanagopalan, Rajkumar Bharathi, M.S. Sheela, R.K. Padmanabha, D.V. Nagarajan, Nagavalli Nagaraj, Usha Char (USA), Sukanya Prabhakar, Nagamani Srinath, S. Shankar, Bombay Jayashree, Charumathi Ramachandran, S. Sowmya, O. S. Thyagarajan, A. K. C. Natarajan, R.A. Ramamani, Prof. T.N. Krishnan, R.R. Keshavamurthy, Ganesh / Kumaresh, Mysore Nagaraj / Manjunath, T.R. Srinath, Dr. Doraiswamy Iyengar, Chitraveena Ravikiran, U. Srinivas, Kadri Gopalanath and many more.
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