About the artists

Pt. Raghunandan Panshikar
Born into a lineage of Sanskrit scholars and classical musicians and as the son of the eminent Marathi stage actor and producer Prabhakar Panshikar, Raghunandan Panshikar's aptitude for music was recognized and fostered from an early age. At the age of 11, Raghunandan began his formal study of music in Mumbai under the tutelage of the late Pandit Vasantrao Kulkarni. Six years later, he commenced training with the doyen of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, Gaan Saraswati Smt. Kishori Amonkar. Over the next 20 years up to the year 2000, under Kishori-ji's keen guidance, he worked painstakingly to imbibe her complex and unique musical style through rigorous daily riyaaz. During this time, Raghunandan was also fortunate to learn from Kishori-ji's mother and guru, the late Gaan Tapaswini Smt. Mogubai Kurdikar, who had learned directly from the the late Sangeet Samrat Ustad Alladiya Khan, founder of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. By training with both Mogubai-ji and Kishori-ji, Raghunandan achieved an authenticity in many aspects of the Jaipur-Atrauli style - a full throated akaar, dazzling taans, a sophisticated use of techniques such as meend and gamak, and a clever grasp of the intricacies of layakari.

Shri Bharat Kamat
Bharat Kamat is one of India’s leading tabla artists who has been well received not only by discerning audiences but also by the lay listener. At the tender age of five, Bharat started learning tabla from his father Pt.Chandrakant Kamat who himself has been a devoted disciple of Pt.Samata Prasad of the Benaras gharana. Bharat’s grandfather Pt. Shantatram Kamat was also a renowned stage-music artist and has several 78 rpm records to his credit.Bharat has thus inherited the ‘sur’ and ‘lai’ from his paternal side. This inheritance of the ‘sur’ has helped Bharat to have a very sharp ear for music which is an important musical requirement, especially for accompaniment, and this is clearly reflected in all his performances.

Shri Ameya Bichu
Ameya was initiated into the world of Harmonium by his guru Shri Tanmay Deochake from Pune. Ameya has also been fortunate to get guidance from Taalayogi Pt. Suresh Talwalkar and Vidushi Padma Talwalkar. Ameya has accompanied several senior artists in India and internationally.