Three Indian artists of exceptional international prestige propose a musical meditation on the occasion of a solemn holiday in the Hindu calendar, Diwali, corresponding to our celebration of the new year.
Partho Sarothy is one of the finest musicians of India. His music embodies the true heritage of Hindustani classical music. His virtuosity on the sarod makes his exploration of the raagas an exercise in harmony and tranquility, and his serious meditative approach makes his music literally soar to unscaled heights of fulfillment.
Partho started his musical training under his father, late Sudhamoy Chowdhury, who was a disciple of Pt. Radhika Mohan Moitra, the great sarod maestro. Then he took lessons for nearly a decade from Ustad Dhyanesh Khan – son and disciple of legendary sarod player Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Since 1980, Partho has been under the direct guidance of Bharat Ratna Pandit Ravi Shankar, India’s greatest musician. He is also fortunate to have the great vocalists Pt. Prasun and Meera Banerjee as his parents-in-law.
Partho SarothyWith this long and illustrious training under these great gurus, combined with an inherent creative sensibility, Partho Sarothy’s music is truly a symphony in serenity. Born in 1960, Partho is based in Kolkata, the cultural Mecca of India. He has been performing for the last 40 years in India and all over the World as a soloist and also with his great guru Pt. Ravi Shankar as an accompanist in the Kremlin Hall in USSR, The Carnegie Hall in USA, The Royal Albert Hall & Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, and other numerous places around the World. In India he has performed in all the major music festivals like The Dover Lane & SRA Music Festival in Kolkata, The Savai Gandharva Festival in Pune, IMG Fest in Mumbai, The Shankar Lal Festival & Vishnu Digambar Jayanti in Delhi, Tansen Sangeet Samaroho in Gwalior and numerous other places in India.
Sanju Sahai (also known as Vishnu Sahai), is currently one of the finest and most sought after Tabla players of his generation. Belonging to the Benares Gharana (lineage) and being the 6th generation of Tabla players in the lineage, he began playing at an early age. Being a child prodigy, and the son of the legendary Pandit Sharda Sahai Ji, he gave his first Tabla solo performance at a major festival in Benares at the tender age of 9. He gained his Bachelor of Music at the age of 13 and Master of Music at 18 years of age.
A phenomenal and outstanding Tabla player, he is well known for mesmerising and captivating his audience with his power, virtuosity and complete spontaneity.
His meteoric rise in popularity in the field of traditional Indian Classical music has led Sanju to regularly collaborate with different genres such as Jazz, Egyptian, Flamenco, Opera, Western Classical, hip hop, folk, blues music and the world of contemporary music and dance. This makes him an imaginative and sensitive musician, having an elegant and poignant style of his own. He has and continues to collaborate with various international artists from around the globe such as: Manuela Carrasco (Flamenco dance), Michael Nyman (British composer), Patricia Rozario (opera), BBC Philharmonic, Naresh Sohal (composer), Pete Lockett (multi percussionist), Yair Dalal (oud), Jason Carter (guitarist), Matthew Barley and Anup Biswas (cellists), Don Li (clarinet), Harp Quartet, Dominique Vellard (Gregorian chant), Gilles Petit (composer and instrumentalist) and the acclaimed dancer Akram Khan.
Sanju Sahaiis an international artist and performs all over the UK, India, Europe, Middle East, USA, Australasia and the far East. He has accompanied many of India’s legendary musicians and dancers such as: Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia (bansuri), Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and Pandit Bhajan Sapori (santoor), Ustad Vilayat Khan Saheb, Ustaad Imrat Khan Saheb, Ustaad Shahid Parvez, Pandit Kartik Kumar and Pandit Manilal Nag (sitar), Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (mohan veena), Pandit Birju Maharaj, Natraj Gopi Krishna and Smt Sitara Devi (Kathak), Ustaad Aasheesh Khan and Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan (sarod), Pandit Jasraj, Smt Girija Devi, Pandits Rajan and Sajan Misra, Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty and Smt Veena Sahasrabuddhe (vocal) Ustaad Sultan Khan and Pandit Ramesh Misra (sarangi), Kala Ramnath (violin) and maestro Umyalpuram Shivraman (mridangam) to name but a few. His performance concert venues include: Carnegie Hall (New York), Sydney Opera House (Australia), Sherover Theatre (Jerusalem), The Siri Fort (Delhi), Novell Hall (Taipei), Muhsin ErtuÄŸrul Stage (Istanbul), Theatre De La Ville (Paris), Villa Adriana (Rome), The Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, House of Commons and Westminster Abbey, City Hall (London), Bridgewater Hall, The Lowry (Manchester), Philharmonic Hall (Liverpool), The Sage (Gateshead), Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City (USA), Glastonbury and Womad festival (UK) and Sfinks festival (Belgium). Sanju’s recent projects and collaborations include: BBC Proms, Sangeet Yatra, Rhythm Xchange, The Raga Taal, Bach to Benares, Ancient Future, Sangam, The Raga Jazz, Encounter, Romali, Pan Jazz, Sacred Beats of Benares, Aakrisht, Gnosis, Medici Edinburgh and Dante String Quartets. He has also been privileged to be invited to perform for Her Majesty the Queen on 4 separate occasions and has also performed at a private function held by HRH Prince Charles at Highgrove.
Sanju has played for numerous live recordings including BBC TV, Channel East, Asian Network TV, Zee TV, Sony TV, Sky, BBC World Service, All India Radio (“A” grade artist), Doordarshan and also on CDs with ARC Music, On Air, Sense World, NA Classical India, Warner Brothers and Universal Records.
In addition to his performance and touring work he regularly conducts lecture demonstrations, workshops and residencies in schools, colleges and universities. He has been a tutor at SOAS London University leading a course in Tabla for over 15 years. Sanju was also Percussion Conductor of a unique South Asian music youth orchestra (SAMYO) and regularly leads workshops with the National Youth Orchestra involving some of the brightest young musicians based in the UK.
Supriyo Dutta‘s proficiency includes KHAYAL , TARANA, THUMRI , BHAJAN & SUFI and also has a rare gift of creating original compositions using various style of world music. He was born to a music loving family where he was initiated into the world of music at the tender age of five . Basic training started under Shri Bidhan Mitra. Thereafter as a National Scholar-Govt. of India he acquired training under Pandit Ramkrishna Basu, a disciple of Legendary Ustad Ameer Khan of the Indore Gharana. Also he is receiveing able guidance under Vidushi Subhra Guha. Supriyo Dutta is an established performer in Hindustani Vocal Classical music and at present a popular artist not only among music lovers in India but also a very well known and respected among Indian music lovers of abroad namely Italy, Germany, France, United States of America, etc.
