South Asian Classical Arts

Creator: Kabir Cultural Centre

Brochure advertising Abhinava Dance Company's performance of Ojhas at Oscar Peterson Concert Hall, Montreal, Quebec. Features choreography by Nirupama and Rajendra, associate choreography by Guru Kumudini Lakhia, and music by Praveen Rao and Pravin Ghodkindi. Features dances in both Kathak and Bharatanatyam styles. Abhinava Dance Company is a dance troupe from Bangalore, South India that was founded in 1994 by Kathak dancers Nirupama and Rajendra. Nirupama and Rajendra are a husband and wife duo of Kathak dancers. They were both students of Guru Maya Rao. In 1994 they founded the Abhinava Dance Company. Guru Kumudini Lakhia is a Kathak dancer and choreographer based in the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India. She was born on May 17, 1930 in India. In 1967 she founded the Kadamb School of Dance and Music. Praveen Rao is a musician, music director and a lyricist for Kannada language songs based in Bangalore, India. Pravin Ghodkindi is a classical Hindustani bansuri player. He was born on October 28, 1973 in the city of Dharwad in Karnataka, India. He is the son and pupil of Pandit Venkatesh Godkhindi and was a student under Guru Vidwan Anoor Ananth Krishna Sharma.

Creator: Kabir Cultural Centre

Poster advertising Geeta Chandran's recital of Satyam Shivam Sundaram – In search of Eternity! at the D.B.Clarke Theatre, Montreal, Quebec. Geeta Chandran is a Bharatanatyam dancer and vocalist from India. She is a student of Swarna Saraswathy among others. She is the founder and president of Natya-Vriksha, an organization devoted to promoting Bharatanatyam dance.

Creator: Kabir Cultural Centre

Poster advertising Anjani's Kathak Dance of India's performance of Kathak Dance: Rhythms and movements from North India at D.B.Clarke Theater, Montreal, Quebec. Anjani Ambegaokar is an Indian dancer, choreographer, and educator specializing in the Kathak form of North Indian dance. She studied under Pandit Sundarlaljee Gangani in India and holds an M.A. degree in Kathak dance from the M.S. University of Baroda, India. Amrapali Ambegaokar is the daughter and pupil of Anjani Ambegaokar. She is the principal dancer of Anjani's Kathak Dance of India, has also danced for Cirque du Solei, and acted in numerous programs on American television. Anjani's Kathak Dance of India is a dance troupe founded by Anjani Ambegaokar.

Creator: Kabir Cultural Centre

Poster advertising Bhoomi's performance of Soiree de musique folke terrestre et de musique classique celeste at Centre St. Pierre, Montreal, Quebec. Formed in 1999, Bhoomi, meaning "earth", is a Bengali urban folk music group based in the city of Kolkata in West Bengal, India. Surojit Chatterjee is a singer/songwriter and founding member of Bhoomi. He also plays the guitar and the tabla. in 2012[approximately] he left Bhoomi to perform with other acts. Joanne Griffith is a folk, blues and jazz singer from Montreal, Quebec. Jean-Francois Garneau is a musician. Subir Dev is a tabla player and member of Duniya Project. He was born in Bangladesh and later moved to Montreal, Canada. He studied North Indian classical music under Dr. Narendra Verma and now provides instrumental accompaniment to many artists from India. Ranajit Sengupta is a sarod player and composer from India. He is a student of Ustad Dhyanesh Khan and Ustad Aashish Khan of the Maihar Senia Gharana (school). He is married to the Hindustani Classical vocalist Shirin Sengupta. Subhajyoti Guha is a tabla player from Kolkata, India. He was introduced to the tabla at the age of 5 and is a disciple of the acclaimed tabla maestro and trainer Pandit Sankha Chatterjee. He has been performing since 1992 and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including the President's Award from All India Radio.

Creator: Kabir Cultural Centre

Poster advertising a performance of Banaras Bliss at the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec, Montreal, Quebec. Features vocals by Rajan Misra and Sajan Misra, Vineet Vyas on the tabla, and Raya Bidaye on the harmonium. The brothers Rajan and Sajan Mishra were a famous duo of singers who performed in the Khyal style of Hindustani classical music. They were part of the Banaras Gharana's (school's) 300-year lineage of khyal vocalists. On April 15, 2021, Rajan Mishra died of a heart attack brought on by complications from COVID-19. Vineet Vyas is a tabla player. He was born in Nova Scotia, Canada and was introduced to Hindustani classical music at the age of 5. He is the grandson of the classical vocalist Pandit Brahmanand Vyas and the disciple of tabla maestro Pandit Kishan Maharaj. He holds an MFA in World Percussion from the California Institute of the Arts. Raya Bidaye is a reed organist.

Creator: Kabir Cultural Centre

Poster advertising an evening of Serene Classical and Scintillating Folk Music at the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec, Montreal, Quebec. Features Ustad Shujaat Husain Khan on the sitar and Hindol Majumdar and Mayookh Bhaumik on the tabla. Shujaat Husain Khan is a sitar player from India. He is the son of the sitar maestro Vilayat Khan and a student of the Imdad Khan gharana (school) of sitar playing. Hindol Majumdar is a tabla player. He began learning tabla at the age of 5 and had his first performance at the age of 10. He has since collaborated with world music percussionists like Doyra player Abbos Kosimov, four time Grammy award winner Glenn Velez, and world renowned Mridangam exponent Legendary Trichy Sankaran. He also founded the Hindole Majumdar School of Music and Dance in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in USA where he teaches Tabla and Indian Rhythm. Mayookh Bhaumik is tabla player and electronic sound artist. He was born in New York, United States and currently lives in the city of Kolkata in West Bengal, India. He has studied under Ustad Zakir Hussain and Ustad Sabir Khan.

Creator: Kabir Cultural Centre

Poster advertising Down the Memory Lane, An evening of soulful ghazals and delightful Punjabi songs at the Baha'i Centre, Montreal, Quebec. Features vocals by Gurdial Singh Randhawa and Jagjit Singh Sohni on the tabla. Gurdial Singh Randhawa is a ghazal singer. He is originally from the city of Jalandhar in Punjab, India and currently lives in Montreal. He has collaborated with K.L. Saigal, Talat Mehmood, Purushottam Jalota and Jagjit Singh. Jagjit Singh Soni is a tabla player and instructor. He was born and raised in the city of Batala in Punjab, India and now lives in Brampton, Ontario. He began learning tabla at the age of 4. He holds the Guiness World Record for Longest Drumming Marathon, having played 110 hours of tabla for five days and four nights straight.

Creator: Kabir Cultural Centre

Poster advertising a double feature screening at de Seve Cinema, Montreal, Quebec. The films to be screened are Benares, musique du Gange and Music of Pakistan, both directed by Yves Billon. The films feature beautiful music by Ustad Bismillah Khan, Girija Devi, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and other leading musicians of India and Pakistan. Yves Billon is a documentary filmmaker from France. He was born on July 9, 1946 in the city of Paris in Île-de-France, France. He has collaborated with Pakistani ethnomusicologist Adam Nayyar. He is the founder of the production companies Les Films du Village and Zaradoc.

Creator: Kabir Cultural Centre

Poster advertising the India-Pakistan Music and Dance Show, a fundraising concert for South Asian earthquake relief held at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. Features ghazals performed by Akram Butt, classical dance performed by Manasi Jain, geet performed by Deepa Mathur & Hita Raghunathan, Catherine Potter on the bansuri, Jagjit Singh Soni on the tabla and Aditya Verma on the sarod. Akram Butt is a published poet, music composer and formally trained vocalist. He is a disciple of the Patiala Gharana (school) of Hindustani classical music and sings ghazal, geet and semi-classical composition. In Pakistan, he was a staff artist at Radio Pakistan and Pakistan TV. Manasi Jain is a student of the Bharatanatyam form of Indian classical dance who was born in Montreal, Quebec. She is a member of the Kabir Cultural Centre and a reputed junior artist who performs extensively in Montreal and other cities. She also has a PhD in Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Deepa Mathur is a vocalist who sings geet. Hita Raghunathan is a trained singer of Hindustani music, ghazals and bhajans who lives in Montreal, Quebec, where, according to the Kabir Cultural Centre, she is "arguably the most popular South Asian singer". Catherine Potter was a Canadian bansuri player. She was born on December 25, 1957 in the city of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. She studied the bansuri in India with Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. She was the founder of the Duniya Project music ensemble. She died on December 3, 2010. Jagjit Singh Soni is a tabla player and instructor. He was born and raised in the city of Batala in Punjab, India and now lives in Brampton, Ontario. He began learning tabla at the age of 4. He holds the Guinness World Record for Longest Drumming Marathon, having played 110 hours of tabla for five days and four nights straight. Aditya Verma is a sarod, sitar and tabla player from Montreal, Quebec. He was first trained in the tabla by his father, Dr. Narendra Verma, and Ustad Zakir Hussain. in 1987, Aditya moved to India where he studied North Indian classical music in the tradition of the Maihar Senia Gharana (school). He has also studied under the sitar player Pandit Ravi Shankar and the sarod players Ustad Aashish Khan and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.

Creator: Kabir Cultural Centre

Poster advertising a performance of Inspiration at Bibliothèque nationale du Québec, Montreal, Quebec. Features Brij Narayan on the sarod and the Surbahar and Abhijit Banerjee on the tabla. Brij Narayan is an Indian classical musician who plays the sarod. He was born on April 25, 1952. He has been active since 1967. He is the son of Sarangi artist Pandit Ram Narayan and disciple of the sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Abhijit Banerjee is a tabla player from India. He was introduced to the tabla at the age of 4. He has accompanied top-ranking luminaries of Indian classical music and was a disciple of the late Jnan Prakash Ghosh. He also founded and established the Dhwani Academy of Percussion.