Artists

Sanjib Bhattacharya, recipient of Presidents Awards from A.P.J Abdul Kalam in 2006 and Pratibha Patil in 2011 is an accomplished Manipuri Dance Exponent, Guru and well-known Choreographer of India and abroad. He has received his training under the tutelage of Guru Bipin Singh, Padmashri Darshana Jhaveri, Kalavati Devi, Manjushree Chaki Sircar and Mamata Shankar. He is currently an established performer of great repute having extensively performed across India and abroad. He is not only performing as a solo artist, but is also performing with eminent Gurus and Icons of Indian Classical dances like Padmavibhushan Sonal Mansingh, Padmashri Darshana Jhaveri, Padmashri Ranjana Gauhar Pratibha Prahlad, Vaijayanti Kashi, Gopika Vermer Sadanam Balakrishnan, Parwati Dutta and other eminent gurus all over India and abroad. He runs several dance academies and schools in India while conducting Lecture Demonstrations and workshops regularly in India, United Kingdom, Poland, and the United States in Manipuri dance. Sanjib has performed and still performing in all major cities and festivals of India. He has been giving performances and workshops in many countries like USA, Australia, China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and European like Sweden, Germany, England, Finnland and Poland.

Apoorva Jayaraman, now 27, started learning Bharathanatyam at the tender age of 5 and has been undergoing specialised training under Smt Priyadarsini Govind (Chennai) for over 10 years now. Presently studying for a PhD in Astronomy at University of Cambridge, Apoorva right from the start had a natural inclination towards dance and fine arts and is also trained in Carnatic Vocal music and Odissi and has had the priviledge of undergoing a sustained period of training in abhinaya under Padmabhushan Smt Kalanidhi Narayan (Chennai). She started giving solo performances at the age of 8 and has since then come a long way as a dancer, artist, choreographer and teacher, working under various banners in India, USA and UK. Most recently, she has featured as a prominent soloist in more than 10 of the Kalakriya series of DVDs that have gained worldwide popularity and acclaim. Apoorva has had the opportunity to learn and adapt from different styles, thus being able to enrich her own performance. Her constant interaction with students of dance, from India and outside, while teaching workshops and classes has greatly contributed to her growth as a dancer.

Along with her Master´s degree in History, she has also done her training in Bharathanatyam and Manipuri under the able guidance of teachers like Sri. P.T. Narendran and Smt. Bimbavati Devi and Smt. Pavitra Devi for four years. She has been Ms. Dasgupta’s pupil for 17 years. She has received titles in Kathak like Sangeet Prabhakar, Visharad and Nrityaprabha. She is equally talented in folk dances also. She has worked as Kathak tutor for the most prestigeous institute in Kolkatta – Bengal Music college during 2007 to 2009. At present she is teaching Kathak and other dance forms at Suchanda Sangitalaya. She has several performances to her credit since 1990 in India and abroad. She performed in Germany in the year 2000. Her performance in ‘Macbeth’ of Shakespeare composed and choreographed by her Guru Ms. Dasgupta, and also poet Goethe´s West-Oestlicher divan in classical style at German Consulate in India are well acclaimed.

Shany Mathew is a modern- day version of an Indian apsara who tells the Indian mythological stories through graceful gestures of the hands (Mudras) and facial expressions (Abhinaya) combined with the lotic body postures. Being a talented dancer in Bharatanatyam, Mohiniattam and Kuchipudi, she has put in more than 20 years of rigorous training in the guru-shishya (teacher-disciple) tutelage at the esteemed traditional academy – Nisari Kalakshetra in Kerala, India. She has attained proficiency under the meticulous guidance of her gurus-Girish Kumar and Alexandra Romanova-and is highly acclaimed by the Indian Embassy and the Indo- German societies. Her illustrious movements, precise technique and powerful expressions are enthralling audiences across Europe and India. She is one of the few classical dancers who has successfully fused Indian dance with Western music and performance. Shany Mathew has the rare acumen to match the grace of the classical dance with the sensitivities of the global audience, thereby delivering performances which are understood even by the uninitiated.

Dharani was born out of the vision and zeal of the eminent danseuse, choreographer, and great teacher, Guru Shyamala Surendran. Trained by luminaries of the likes of Dhananjayans Kalyanikutty Amma, Kalanidhi Narayanan, Sreedevi Rajan, Kamalarani, and Sri CE Janardhanan, she has been imparting intensive and holistic training in classical dance, music, and the underlying philosophy of art to students from all over the world. A recipient of Kerala Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2005) for her prodigious contribution to Mohiniyattam and an empaneled artist of ICCR, Smt. Shyamala Surendran has performed at major dance festivals in India and abroad. Firmly committed to preserving the sanctity of India’s classical arts, she conducts workshops and lecture demonstrations in Germany, Russia, Hungary, and France.

K.Shanmugha sundaram, one of India’s sought after bharathanatyam male dancer is the prime disciple of the legendary Guru K.J.Sarasa. While his dance is rooted in tradition, Shanmugham has evolved his own individual style through his choreographic productions without forsaking the principles of Bharathanatyam. He brings to his dance a sense of devotion and dedication, which leaves the audience in spiritual fulfillment. He has had the opportunity to perform in all the major festivals in India and abroad. He’s also an A grade artiste of the Doordarshan and has been conferred many awards and titles. Besides being a performer, he is an outstanding Nattuvanar and he imparts his artistic knowledge to young aspiring dancers through his dance academy Sathir. Shanmugham has had the blessed opportunity to inherit Sarasalaya wherein he continues the legacy commenced by his Guru. He is also the pioneer behind the concept of the Narthaka Festival.

Viraja Mandhre und Shyamjithkiran sind ein junges, dynamisches Tanzduo aus der Kalakshetra-Tradition in Chennai. Beide haben in Indien einen hohen, professionellen Abschluss im klassischen indischen Tanz Bharathanatyam und unzaehlige Preise fuer diese Tanzkunst erhalten. Als Teil der offiziellen Kalakshetra-Company sind sie mit vielen international bekannten Kuenstlern in der ganzen Welt aufgetreten und beherrschen auch den hier selten gezeigten Kathakalitanz. Sie sind als angesehene Tanzlehrer und Choregraphen taetig. Viraja ist darueber hinaus Yogalehrerin und Psychologin.

Frau Priya begann im Alter von 10 Jahren das Spiel des Veena zu erlernen. Ihr erster Guru war Vidushi Smt Sridevi. Ihre jetzige Lehrerin ist Vidushi Smt Shanthi Rao Schuelerin eines grossten Meisters des Veenaspiels Vidwan Sri Dr. Chitti Babu.

Frau Priya hat zahlreiche Auszeichnungen erhalten und bei vielen grossten Events mitgewirkt. Neben Ihrer Taetigkeit als Musikerin hat Sie gerade Ihren Dr. Titel in Biochemie und Biophysik in Frankfurt verliehen bekommen. Wir freuen uns sehr, sie heute Abend hier bei uns zu haben, und Ihre Kunst geniessen zu koennen.

Ghatam Vidwan V Umashankar comes from a lineage of highly accomplished musicians. He is grandson of Shri T R Harihara Sharma and the second son of Ghatam Maestro T H Vikku Vinayakram, First South Indian Grammy

Awardee. Shri Harihara Sharma founded the Shri Jayaganesh Tala Vadya Vidhyalaya where Umashankar began giving performances as early as when he was 5 years old along with other students of the School. He is the only one, amongst his siblings, to follow in his Illustrious father’s footsteps by taking Ghatam as his main instrument. His meteoric rise in the Classical Carnatic music field began with his first concert for Legend Shri T V Gopalakrishnan’s vocal concert in Kanchipuram when he was only 12 years old. Following which he was a regular accompaniment to various upcoming artists of those days namely T M Krishna, Vijay Siva, Sanjay Subramaniam, Unni Krishnan, Ganesh Kumaresh, Nithyashree Mahadevan, Priya Sisters, Sudha Raghunathan et al. This created an opportunity for him to accompany Dr. Sirkazhi Sivachidambaram for a period of two full years when they toured extensively. As a reward to his hardwork he was invited by “Bharatha Ratna” M S Subbulakshmi Amma to accompany her for one concert. This opportunity meant a lot to him as he was filling in place of his peerless father who used to be MS amma’s first choice Ghatam accompaniment as always. Legends Balamurali Krishna, Mandolin U. Shrinivas, Yesudas soon followed with their invitations to accompany them. Along with these invitations came opportunities to travel abroad with many of the stalwarts. He has travelled extensively and enchanted audience world over.

His approach in accompanying South Indian Classical Carnatic music was much appreciated by Artists of Hindustani Style which created opportunities for him to accompany Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Zakir Hussain, Pandit Jasraj, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shivkumar Sharma. His ability to captivate the audience with stellar performances in North India brought him accolades and he has been a regular accompaniment to Western, Jazz and Alternative Music Artists such as Jonas Elberg, John Mclaughlin, Ricky Ray, Alexandra Romanova. His demonstrations abroad alongside these artists has clearly shown his virtuosity as well as the ability of his instrument to accompany the plethora of styles of music ranging from South Indian Carnatic all the way to Western Alternative music. Beyond concerts he has been regular accompaniment in Cinema music. He is a regular at the studios of Legend Illayaraja, Oscar Awardee A R Rahman, Harris Jeyaraj and Yuvan Shankara Raja. Noteworthy are his contributions in the project done by A R Rahman titled “Desh Kaa Salaam” in which he accompanies his legendary father. He conducts special performances based on invitations in india and abroad along side his own music group which he has named “Nadabrahmam”. With the blessings of Mahaperiyava of Kanchi Mutt he has embarked on a mission to teach the art he has been blessed with. He teaches Ghatam and Konnakkol, the art of reproducing the rhythmic intonations vocally. He has begun these classes in various private Matriculation and State run school as part of the co-curricular activity in their mainstream and also conducting special workshops. He brings together students of Jaiganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya and pupils from other Schools where he teaches in performances on Konnakkol.

Frau Priya begann im Alter von 10 Jahren das Spiel des Veena zu erlernen. Ihr erster Guru war Vidushi Smt Sridevi. Ihre jetzige Lehrerin ist Vidushi Smt Shanthi Rao Schuelerin eines grossten Meisters des Veenaspiels Vidwan Sri Dr. Chitti Babu.

Frau Priya hat zahlreiche Auszeichnungen erhalten und bei vielen grossten Events mitgewirkt. Neben Ihrer Taetigkeit als Musikerin hat Sie gerade Ihren Dr. Titel in Biochemie und Biophysik in Frankfurt verliehen bekommen. Wir freuen uns sehr, sie heute Abend hier bei uns zu haben, und Ihre Kunst geniessen zu koennen.

Ghatam Vidwan V Umashankar comes from a lineage of highly accomplished musicians. He is grandson of Shri T R Harihara Sharma and the second son of Ghatam Maestro T H Vikku Vinayakram, First South Indian Grammy

Awardee. Shri Harihara Sharma founded the Shri Jayaganesh Tala Vadya Vidhyalaya where Umashankar began giving performances as early as when he was 5 years old along with other students of the School. He is the only one, amongst his siblings, to follow in his Illustrious father’s footsteps by taking Ghatam as his main instrument. His meteoric rise in the Classical Carnatic music field began with his first concert for Legend Shri T V Gopalakrishnan’s vocal concert in Kanchipuram when he was only 12 years old. Following which he was a regular accompaniment to various upcoming artists of those days namely T M Krishna, Vijay Siva, Sanjay Subramaniam, Unni Krishnan, Ganesh Kumaresh, Nithyashree Mahadevan, Priya Sisters, Sudha Raghunathan et al. This created an opportunity for him to accompany Dr. Sirkazhi Sivachidambaram for a period of two full years when they toured extensively. As a reward to his hardwork he was invited by “Bharatha Ratna” M S Subbulakshmi Amma to accompany her for one concert. This opportunity meant a lot to him as he was filling in place of his peerless father who used to be MS amma’s first choice Ghatam accompaniment as always. Legends Balamurali Krishna, Mandolin U. Shrinivas, Yesudas soon followed with their invitations to accompany them. Along with these invitations came opportunities to travel abroad with many of the stalwarts. He has travelled extensively and enchanted audience world over.

His approach in accompanying South Indian Classical Carnatic music was much appreciated by Artists of Hindustani Style which created opportunities for him to accompany Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Zakir Hussain, Pandit Jasraj, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shivkumar Sharma. His ability to captivate the audience with stellar performances in North India brought him accolades and he has been a regular accompaniment to Western, Jazz and Alternative Music Artists such as Jonas Elberg, John Mclaughlin, Ricky Ray, Alexandra Romanova. His demonstrations abroad alongside these artists has clearly shown his virtuosity as well as the ability of his instrument to accompany the plethora of styles of music ranging from South Indian Carnatic all the way to Western Alternative music. Beyond concerts he has been regular accompaniment in Cinema music. He is a regular at the studios of Legend Illayaraja, Oscar Awardee A R Rahman, Harris Jeyaraj and Yuvan Shankara Raja. Noteworthy are his contributions in the project done by A R Rahman titled “Desh Kaa Salaam” in which he accompanies his legendary father. He conducts special performances based on invitations in india and abroad along side his own music group which he has named “Nadabrahmam”. With the blessings of Mahaperiyava of Kanchi Mutt he has embarked on a mission to teach the art he has been blessed with. He teaches Ghatam and Konnakkol, the art of reproducing the rhythmic intonations vocally. He has begun these classes in various private Matriculation and State run school as part of the co-curricular activity in their mainstream and also conducting special workshops. He brings together students of Jaiganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya and pupils from other Schools where he teaches in performances on Konnakkol.