Pooja Goswami, Ph.D. (Music)
Dr. Pooja Goswami was born in a musical family and received her early
training
in Hindustani (North Indian) classical music (vocal) from her father
Sri.
Surendra Goswami.
She received her M.Phil from
the University of Delhi and completed a Ph.D. in Music in
2005, also
from the University
of Delhi. The
subject of
her Ph.D. thesis was the life and music of Pandit Amarnath, one of the
prime
disciples of Ustad Amir Khan - an icon in Hindustani vocal music.
Dr. Goswami is also trained
in semi-classical music from the eminent vocalist Smt. Shanti Hiranand,
the
reigning queen of Thumri and Ghazal (semi-classical vocal genres) and
the
universally acclaimed successor of the legendary vocalist, the Late
Begum
Akhtar. The versatility in Dr. Goswami’s repertoire is evident in her
ability
to sing Thumri, Dadra, Ghazal, Bhajan and various folk genres (e.g.
Chaiti,
Kajri) besides Khayals.
Dr. Goswami has received the
prestigious National Scholarship awarded by the Ministry of Human
Resources.
The many prestigious venues she has performed at include the India Habitat
Center (New Delhi),
the Sopan festival (New Delhi), Vietnam
International Tourism Festival (Hanoi)
and the Sankalp music society (Jaipur). Dr. Goswami recently
co-composed the score
for Pangea World Theater’s “The Partition Project” staged in June 2006
in Minneapolis.
She has
performed widely within the USA,
including performances at the University
of Minnesota - Minneapolis
(MN),
Indian Music Society of Minnesota (IMSOM) - Minneapolis (MN), Amherst College
- Amherst (MA), East
Indian Music Academy
- Queens (NY)
etc.
Presently Dr.
Goswami is a
visiting faculty at the School of Music, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis,
teaching courses in Indian music and culture.
Dr. A. Pavan
Dr. Pavan is a regular figure
in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN) music circles as an
accomplished Tabla player and teacher. Dr. Pavan has trained in
Tabla under several masters including Sri G.
Laxmiah, Sri
Ambika Prasad Mishra, Sri
Gopal Mishra, Pandit Vijay Shankar and Pandit Birju
Maharaj.
Presently he trains with Sri. Rajendra Nakod
in Bangalore and Ustad Shabbir
Nisar in Hyderabad.
Over the years
he has performed for Katha Dance Theater, Abhinaya
Theater, Minnesota Dance Alliance, Pangea
World Theater and Indian
Music Society of Minnesota (IMSOM) in several productions and concerts.
Dr.
Pavan also appears on recordings of world/fusion music with MN based
artists.
Since 1999, Dr. Pavan has been providing instruction to a number of Tabla
students.
In 2002, Dr. Pavan co-composed
and performed (with MN based Veena artist and vocalist, Nirmala
Rajasekar), the
score for Pangea World Theater’s production “Partitions”, at the
Playwright’s
Center in Minneapolis.
More recently, in June 2006, he co-composed the score for Pangea World
Theater’s follow-on play “The Partition Project” with Pooja Goswami.
Dr. Pavan
will be performing with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in Dec 2006.
A Principal Research Scientist
at Honeywell Labs, Pavan is an alumnus of the University of Minnesota
from where he received his Ph.D in Computer Science. Dr. Pavan has
served in
IMSOM as a member of the Executive Committee for several years and
finally as
President of the Society from 1997 – 2001. He continues to be very
active in
IMSOM and presently serves as an advisor.
Sri Ravi Prasad
Ravi
Prasad is an accomplished
musician and a graded artist of All India Radio. Ravi holds a Master’s
degree
in Music from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad. He has
performed several times locally and
internationally and has won the President's Award in New Delhi. Ravi plays half a dozen instruments and is at home in
several musical styles.
In
his college days, Ravi has won
various prizes for solo performances in
Harmonium, Banjo and Singing. Over the years he has matured into a
harmonium
player of technical virtuosity and sensitivity. He has performed with
some of India's
most
celebrated and honored musicians – such as Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Mukul
Shivaputra,
Pandit Siyaram Tiwari and others. Ravi’s accompaniment – at once
dexterous,
supportive and spontaneously inventive - combined with the rich
repertoire that
he has inherited from his guru-s, and the inspiration that he draws
from his
peers has won him the admiration of music lovers and connoisseurs. He takes special interest in Global Fusion
Music and is also a founding member of the fusion band Jantri.
