Hindustani Music Tours Artists from India

September-October 2008

Taalyogi Pt. Suresh Talwalkar's

Laya Sur Taal Yatra

*Taalyogi* Pandit Suresh Talwalkar is one of the greatest tabla exponents of the present times. As an accomplished artist and as a Guru, he has contributed immensely to the glorious tradition of Indian Classical Music, particularly in the field of percussion. Sureshji introduced for the first time the novel concept of using vocal accompaniment for solo tabla and added a new dimension/ direction to the solo playing of tabla. As a guru, his expertise and teaching abilities are unmatched. Today, amongst the best tabla players of the newer generation, a great majority are his disciples.
His unending quest for creativity and innovation makes him a distinguished composer. Watch the videos on 'Google Video' & 'youtube.com' & by Sangeet Research Academy on it's website 'itcsra.org' (You can search for Pt. Suresh Talwalkar). Visit http://www.sureshtalwalkar.com for more details.

Hailing from rich traditions of Dharwad, young Kumar Mardur had his training from his father Pandit Somanath Mardur, a renowned Hindustani Classical Vocalist of the Kirana Gharana. Pandit Somanath Mardur is a senior disciple of Padmabhushan Dr. Basavaraj Rajguru. Under the able guidance of his father, Kumar has shown all the qualities of becoming a promising young artist.
Presently Kumar has also been learning from Pandit Firoz Dastur, a great Maestro of the Kirana Gharana and a senior disciple of Late Sawai Gandharva. Endowed with a melodious voice, Kumar is known for pure and aesthetic presentation of ragas, clear taan patterns and command over laya. You can see Kumar Mardur's Video on 'youtube.com'.

Savani Talwalkar is the daughter of Taalyogi Pt. Suresh Talwalkar and Pta. Padma Talwalkar. As an upcoming disciple of her father, she has accompanied him in many of his solo performances. She is a part of project ‘Swar- Taalyatra’ by Pt. Suresh Talwalkar and has toured Thailand and some prominent cities of India for this project Savani got an opportunity to accompany Guruji in some of his concerts and has performed with his other disciples in presence of scholars and seniors.

Chinmay Kolhatkar is a young and versatile harmonium player. He received his initial music training from Shri Rajprasad Dharmadhikari, Kolhapur, and now is under the tutelage of famous harmonium maestro of India, Dr. Shri Arvind Thatte. After completing his graduation in Electronics, Chinmay has made music his career. Though young he has already provided efficient and competent harmonium accompaniment to many leading artists of Indian classical music..
Chinmay is taking vocal training from Shri Rajendra Manerikar and learning voice culture.