PRATTYSH BANERJEE
Prattyush Banerjee is a unique twenty-first century musician who has been successfully multi-tasking as a performer, composer, researcher and instrument designer. Born in Kolkata in 1969, Prattyush is a worthy torchbearer of the Senia-Shahjahanpur gharana of sarode. He was initiated to the art of sarode playing at the tender age of 8 by his father, Late Prasun Kumar Banerjee, a well-known connoisseur and patron of music. Later, he trained under Shri Samarendra Sikdar, an eminent disciple of Radhika Mohan. Subsequently, for thirty years now, he has been under the coveted tutelage of the internationally celebrated maestro, Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta.
Prattyush has been performing in public since he was eleven, and has featured at major music festivals throughout India. Abroad, he has played at the Bach Festival, Belgium; Tropentheater, Amsterdam among others. He has also been a very successful as a recording musician-composer and has arranged music for around fifty albums till date.
Prattyush has been honoured with the Ranadhir Roy Smriti Samman and the Outstanding Young Person of the Year Award in 2003 and the Pabitra Dasgupta Memorial Award in 2007.
SHYAM KANE
Shyam Kane, started training in the art of Tabla in 1975 under the guidance and supervision of great Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussian. Shyam's career as a Tabla player started in 1976 in Switzerland where he has invited to play his first concert. Since then, he has been actively performing in India, Canada, Europe and United States of America. He has accompanied such great artists as Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Jasraj, Mrs. N. Rajam, Mrs. Laxmi Shankar, Dr. L. Subramanjam, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma and many others. He has also participated in festival of India (1985-1986) which was sponsored by Indian government.
He has taught the art of playing Tabla at San Diego State University and the Ali Akebar College of Music in San Rafael, California. He is also the recipient of 1987-1988 fellowship awarded by the Ohio Art Council.
Since 1988 his six compact disks are in the market, in which he has accompanied all top performers such as Shujatkhan (son of Legendary Ustad Vilayat Khan), Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Pt. Jasraj etc.....