Madhuri Das

Maduri Das, a singer from Bangladesh, started her music training with Shri Ajit Roy, a renowned Rabindrasangeet teacher in Dhaka. She came to West Bengal for further training and received her Bachelor of.Music degree from Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, India. Madhuri Das is a Bangladesh TV artist.

Arnab Chakrabarty

Sarod Exponent

Arnab Chakrabarty was born in Bombay, India, in 1980. His musical training started at the age of three and by the time he was five, he was well on his way to being a serious student of music, initially under the tutelage of Pandit Brij Narayan, and then Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta, an all-time great sarod player. Arnab presently continues his studies under Professor Kalyan Mukherjea, one of the closest disciples of Pandit Radhika Mohan Maitra while simultaneously receiving guidance from Pandit Yashwantbuwa Joshi, the doyen of the Gwalior khayal gharana, and Shri Vinayak Chittar, sitar maestro of the Ettawah Gharana.

Arnab gave his first formal concert at age thirteen, and has been a touring musician since he was sixteen. He also started working as a recording artist in Bombay's film industry while still in his teens, and has performed on the background score of over 25 films, including the Oscar-winning documentary Born into Brothels (2004).

In 1998, Arnab's musical talents propelled him to a full-scholarship at Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts (USA), where he received degrees in Music and International Relations in 2002. He has performed at almost all of India's leading music festivals and venues, including the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Bombay), Nehru Centre (Bombay), Habitat World (Delhi), Radhikamohan Maitra Music Conference (Calcutta), and on many occasions on All India Radio and Doordarshan (Indian National Television). He has also performed and recorded extensively in the United States and Europe at major concert venues.

Subrata Bhattacharya

Tabla Exponent

Subrata Bhattacharya has proved himself a worthy exponent of the Farukhabad Gharana. Recognition of his talent has come in the form of such awards as the Sangeet Prabhankar and the Gold Medal and the Saangeet Praveen from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahadad, and Sangeet Bhushan from the Bhatkhande College, Lucknow

He has received his trianing under Shri Tamal Krishna Chatterjee, Shri Nripen Karmakar and Shri Tapan Kr. Banerjee and then was accepted as a pupil of tabla maestro Pt. Shankar Ghosh, all of whom honed his talent to the level of refinement now witnessed by audiences everywhere.

A tabla player of note on the Indian classical music scenario, Subrata is amazingly talented and his accomplishments and achievements in the field of percussion music have earned him name and enviable fame. Few tabla players have enjoyed such instant recognition and acclaim among concert audiences. Subrata's solo renderings reveal his knowledge of the art and his creativity at their best. As an accompanist of choice of some of the most renowned classical exponents, he exhibits his command over the tabla and his comprehension of the intricacies of the notes and sounds of classical music.

Subrata has been an artist in residence for our program from April 3, 2008- May 10, 2008. His residency involved cross cultural exchange in Champaign Unit 4 Schools. He also performed at venues at the University of Illinois. This residency was supported in part by the State of Illinois Governor’s International Exchange Program.