Veena
Sahasrabuddhe comes
from a family of musicians and composers. Her father,
late Pandit Shankar Shripad Bodas, was a disciple of Pandit Vishnu
Digambar
Palsukar. Young Veena started her musical education with Kathak
dance. She was initiated into Khayal singing by her
father and her brother, late Pandit Kashinath Shankar
Bodas.
Padmashri Balwantrai Bhatt, late Pundit Vasant Thakar and late Pandit
Gajananbua Joshi have also contributed to her education. The style she
has
created for herself retains the fundamental values of Gwalior gharana
while borrowing somewhat from Kirana and Jaipur gharanas. Her music has
something for every listener because it respects traditional values
while being
very personal. Connoisseurs laud the
authenticity of her music, but the lay listener is moved by its
directness and
intensity. Apart from her Khayal
and Tarana renditions, she is sought after for her
rich repertoire of
bhajans.
She has sung at
all the prestigious venues and occasions
including Tansen Samaroh in Gwalior and Sawai
Gandharva in Pune. At the Vokalfestival in Stockholm
and at the Voices of the World festival
in Copenhagen
she represented the Indian Classical Voice. She
has recordings under many leading labels. She
was awarded the Uttar Pradesh Sangeet
Natak Academy Award in
1993.
Veenatai holds a
doctorate from Pune
University
and is as excellent a teacher of music as she is a performer. She has taught formal and informal music
courses at Universities and has offered a number of music workshops in India
and
abroad. She also teaches advanced
students privately. Veenatai has a
number of publications to her credit and has over 41 recorded albums to
date.
Shantilal
Shah,
one of the torchbearers of the Banaras
Gharana, is a much sought-after
accompanist. He acquired his basic training in
Tabla playing under Mahadev Prasad Mishra of Banaras.
During his
initial years as a Tabla player,
Shantilal Shah was named a gold medallist at the Sangeet Natak Academy
of Lucknow,
and also
won a National scholarship
awarded by the Govt. of India. A Sangeet
Prabhakar from the Prayaag Sangeet
SamitiAllahabad,
he is also a graded artiste of All India Radio & Television.
of For the
past several years, Shantilal Shah has been performing all over India,
Asia and
North America with some of the greatest names in Indian Classical music
including Pt. Jasraj, Late Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki, Pts. Rajan-Sajan
Mishra, Pt.
Ulhas Kashalkar, Ustaad Shujaat Khan, Smt. Laxmi Shankar, Smt. Veena
Sahasrabuddhe, Smt. Padma Talwalkar and Smt. Arati Ankalikar, and
dancers like
Rohini Bhate and Shama Bhate. Shantilal
Shah is also a crowd-puller in the fusion-music arena by virtue of his
natural
ability to create the right rhythmic blend between the Tabla
and Western drums. He has performed in several
successful
fusion concerts with celebrity Western musicians.
Kedar
Naphade
is a promising young exponent in the art of
harmonium solo and accompaniment. He received his early training in Hindustani Classical Music from his
grandfather, Shri Dadasaheb Naphade and from Shri Arvind Gajendragadkar. For over 15 years, he has been
a leading
disciple of Pt. Tulsidas Borkar, arguably the most acclaimed harmonium
player
in India
today. Kedar has also had the privilege of training from Smt. Padmavati
Shaligram-Gokhale, a veteran singer of the Atrauli-Jaipur gharana,
who played a pivotal role in his musical development,
sowing in him the seed that developed into a passionate love for the
vocal art
form. Kedar’s music also derives inspiration from the
stylistic genius and
dexterous wizardry of P. Madhukar,
an
unsurpassed master of the instrument, as
well as
the character of the traditional Hindustani
vocal art form. In addition to classical music, Kedar
also plays the semi-classical forms of Marathi Natyasangeet
(Stage Music), Bhajans, Thumri, Dhun etc. Kedar has
performed harmonium solo and has accompanied vocalists at numerous
concerts in
India, Europe and in the U.S. at prestigious festivals and venues such
as the
Alladiya Khan Smruti Samaroha, Dadar Matunga Cultural Center in Mumbai,
The
Lincoln Center in New York, The Smithsonian Institute in Washington
D.C, to
name a few. He has also been featured on NPR. Kedar has shared the
stage with
luminaries such as his guru Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, Pt.
Jasraj, Smt.
Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Smt. Prabha Atre, Smt. Laxmi
Shankar,
Pt. Firoz Dastur, and others.
