Trained Students

Aliya Rasheed

Aliya Rasheed is a young visually impaired Dhrupad singer from Lahore, Pakistan. Her captivating voice and innocent charm have been a source of delight to South Asian audiences since her professional debut in 2005. Her music and the story of her musical journey will surely find an appreciative ear abroad as she embarks on her first American tour in June 2011.

Aliya grew up listening to music on the radio and singing sufi devotional songs at home. Impressed by her extraordinary voice and native musical sense, her family encouraged her musical pursuits as a young adult. She started learning music at the Sanjan Nagar Institute of Philosophy and Arts (www.sanjannagar.org) in Lahore, established by the renowned attorney and musicologist, Mr. Raza Kazim. Then, in DATE, Aliya was offered the chance to take her music to a higher level, when Ms. Shubha Sankaran (www.dhrupad.com), the noted Surbahar player from Washington, D.C., recommended that Aliya study Dhrupad music under the guidance of Dhrupad Maestros Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha at the Dhrupad Institute in Bhopal, India (www.dhrupad.org). Mr. Raza Kazim (www.sanjannagar.org) sponsored her studies in India. In 2001, She seized the opportunity and crossed the border to India in order to learn Dhrupad – the oldest and most demanding of Indian classical vocal forms. Following the traditional format of learning (guru-shishya parampara), Aliya left her family and all that was familiar, and took up residence in the home of her teachers in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, for a period of several years. Aliya feels honored to be the first female Pakistani Dhrupad artist to undergo formal training in India, and this at a time when Indo-Pakistan relations were hardly easy.

Since September 2005, Aliya has been working as a vocal teacher in the musicology department of the National College of the Arts (NCA) in Lahore. She is also teaches music at the Sanjan Nagar School. Some of her major performances are as follow:

  • Parampara (The Tradition): in Bhopal, organized by the Dhrupad Institute in Bhopal, 30th April 2005, and in New Delhi, organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, 6th May 2005.
  • Swayam Siddha, Bhopal (An international Program of Women Artistes, on the Occasion of International Women’s Day), organized by Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, 10th March 2008.
  • Morning Concert, Mumbai, organized by Pancham Nishad, 30th April 2008.
  • Dhrupad Festival, Kolkata, organized by Krishnayam, 16th March 2008.
  • Dhrupad Evening, Bhopal, organized by Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, 28th Aug. 2008.
  • Sambhav 2010, Delhi, (An International Event on Physically and Mentally Challenged Artists), 13th November 2010.
  • Gujarat University, Punjab, Pakistan, 17th December 2008.
  • Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan, 16th February 2009.
  • Gujarat University, Gujarat, Punjab, Pakistan, 5th March 2009.
  • All Pakistan Music Conference (APMC), Lahore, 4th Jan 2009, and Karachi, 26th March 2009.
  • National Conference on Rural Women of Pakistan, Islamabad, 15th October 2010.

Contact : aliyadhrupadworld@gmail.com Mobile: 0092-3444212100 (Lahore, Pakistan)

Amita Sinha Mahapatra

Amita , comes from a music loving family of Bishnupur, west Bengal. She was initiated in to music by her parents and encouraged by them to become a dhrupad singer. She did her masters in music (Hindustani Classical Vocal) from Visva Bharati university, Shanti Niketan, West Bengal and stood first class first . She got her initial training in dhrupad from Shrimati Kaberi kar. Later on she joined the Dhrupad Sansthan Bhopal where she learned the art of
Dhrupad in the Gurushishya Parampara from Umakant Ramakant Gundecha .
She received Merit scholarship from Visvabharati university , Shanti Niketan from 1997 to 2000 . She also received the Sachi Shankaran Fellowship and Sir Dorabji Tata Scholorship   for higher studies in Dhrupad Sansthan Bhopal.

She has performed in many music festivals in India including ‘Arambh’ – Bharat Bhavan Bhopal, Dhrupad Mela- Varanasi, Dhrupad Festival – Gwalior,
Yuva Mahotsav  of Sangeet Natak Academy, Kal ke kalakar Festival, Mumbai , Dhrupad Sandhya – Pune, Bangalore. She has given vocal support to her Guru – Gundecha Brothers.in many concerts .

Contact: “Amita Sinha” <amitadhrupad@yahoo.com>,
Mobile: 08989016448
Address: Amita Sinha Mahapatra
C/O Dhrupad Sansthan
(An Institute of Dhrupad)
Behind Van Nidhi Nursery,
Suraj Nagar, P.O. National Judicial Academy,BHOPAL-462044 INDIA

Sanjeev Jha

Shri  Sanjeev  Jha  was born in Dhanbad, Bihar in 1973. He took his initial musical training  from Shri Habib Khan and from Pt. Arun Bhaduri at SRA  Kolkata.

He is learning  the art of Dhrupad Music from The  Gundecha Brothers  under Guru Shishya Parampara in Dhrupad Sansthan Bhopal.

Shri Sanjeev Jha has done B.Mus from Banaras Hindu University and M.A Music form Delhi University.

He has participated  in

  • Dhrupad Sandhya in Pune organized Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal.
  • Kal Ke Kalakar Festival – Mumbai
  • Dhrupad Samaroh-  Chandra Mandapam, Space, Chennai.

Contact:

Mobile Number: 09479961245
Email: “Sanjeev Jha” <sanjeevdhrupad@gmail.com>,
Address: Sanjeev Jha
C/O  Dhrupad Sansthan
(An International Residential School of Music)
Behind Van Nidhi Nursery, Suraj Nagar, P.O. National Judicial Academy, Bhadbhada ,BHOPAL-462044 INDIA

Shivala

Being a graduate from the Paris Conservatory, Shivala is a musician who has studied classical Indian music and thereafter Dhrupad since 1998. While still continuing studying and researching, she holds performances and courses in countries all over the world.

Born in 1963, in Bretagne, west of France, Shivala started her musical life as a child composing songs with a guitar accompaniment. After three years of Jazz training, she studied double base at the conservatory of Rennes for three years. Then she did an intensive research course on consciousness under the guidance of the spiritual master Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for three years, and also worked with him in India for many months on a Vedic music project. Later she moved to Paris where she studied for three years at the conservatory of Rueil Malmaison and thereafter for six years at the conservatory of Paris 11ar.

During her years as a student in Paris, she had a very clear and deep experience of how music and sound can affect mind, body and emotions. She got interested in natural scales and microtones, which are used in the original Indian classical music, and which is different to the tempered scales of western music. By this, she started to be interested in Indian music, and after seeing a concert with the renowned sitar player Ravi Shankar, she got a desire to study it deeply.

During her stay as a student in Paris, she started learning to play Sitar. Some time after her graduation at the conservatory, she undertook a 3 years intensive study in Khayal singing – which is a part of the Indian classical music called Gandharvaveda – at MUM (Maharishi University of Management) in the United States. She then discovered the genre of Dhrupad, which is the oldest surviving genre of music in India, and the origin of Indian classical music. Since 2001, she has been a student of the world famous Dhrupad singers, the Gundecha brothers. Since most of the knowledge of Dhrupad is based on oral traditions, and has been at risk of becoming extinct, Shivala has an ongoing project of writing a book about this system of music.

Contact:
Email: shivala@mail.com
Website: http://dhrupadmusic.com

Inoue Sou

Inoue Sou began to study music when he was six years old. He is trained in traditional Japanese shrine music (Kagura Ongaku) on flute and drums from Mr Makino Saburo. Sou has been performing since 1984. He has played in many shrine ceremonies in Japan. As a soloist, he has performed in Japan and other countries around the world since 1999.

Sou began, in 2003, to study Hindustani classical music on bansuri (Indian flute) from Mr Nakagawa Hiros (disciple of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia) in Kobe, Japan. Sou’s interest to understand deeper the construction of Indian classical music (especially Alap) made him travel to India in 2008 to study classical vocal music in the Dhrupad style from the Gundecha Brothers. He has begun now to perform Dhrupad and continues to study at Dhrupad Sansthan in Bhopal, India.

Performances

Shrine music

Solo

  • 2001   December    Poland, Warsaw University, Warsaw
  • 2002   January         Italy, Japanese School, Rome
  • February       Greece, Japanese Embassy, Athens (Workshop programme for Greek children to introduce Japanese culture)
  • March            Turkey, Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale

With shrine music performing arts group

  • 2003   June               Portugal in Lisbon, Coimbra, Viseu and Porto

(sponsored by Japan Foundation and Sony, Portugal)

Dhrupad vocal

  • 2010   May                Japan, Keio University, Tokyo
  • May                Japan, Artist place, Q2, Kobe
  • August           India, Karnataka, Smriti Nandan, Bangalore
  • August           India, Maharashtra, Gandharv Hall, Pune
  • November   India, Rajasthan, Prem Prakash Ashram, Pushkar
  • 2011   January         India, Rajasthan, City Palace , Jaipur (accompanying the Gundecha Brothers)
  • February              India, Madhya Pradesh, Pitambara Peet Temple, Datia

Branan Dubh

Born in Australia, Branan first began playing keyboard and guitar as a teenager. His love affair with Indian classical music began over two decades ago, after attending a concert of the late Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. He studied sarod for a while, in Sydney, and also tried his hand at various wind and percussion instruments before turning seriously to the study of the voice. His dhrupad training began in earnest with the Gundecha Brothers in 2002 at Dhrupad Institute,  Bhopal, India  and continues as a life-long dedication to the art form.

He currently lives in Perth, Western Australia where he teaches and performs in both the classical context and some fusion projects with local musicians. In Australia he endeavours to propagate a better appreciation of Indian raga music while maintaining his commitment to music as a path to the soul.

Contact: brandubh@earthling.net

Astha Tripathi

Astha Tripathi born in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh in 1982. She was initiated in music by her parents. She started learning music in Ambikapur from Shri Chandrashekhar Khanwalkar. She is post graduate in Music from Indore University with first position in merit list.

From last 4 years she is being trained under the able guidance of Shri Gundecha Bandhu in Gurukul, Dhrupad Sansthan Bhopal under Guru Shishya Parampara. She is recipient of Sir Dorabji tata Scholorship . She has performed at many places including Sangeet Samaroh,Tikamgad, Sanskrit Gaurav,Vidisha , Dhrupad Vrind,Bhopal, Music Festival, Maheshvar , Kal ke kalakar ,Mumbai , Yuva Mahotsav, Mumbai, Dhupad Sandhya, Pune , Dhrupada Sandhya, Banglore , Dhrupad Sandhya, Chennai

Address- A-3 Fine Avenue ,

Phase 1, Naya Pura, Kolar Road,
Bhopal-462042

Telephone 0755-2414741 Mobile- 9926386563 Email: dhrupadastha@gmail.com

Rupali Jain

Dr. Rupali Jain, born in Dhar M.P., received her initial training in music from Shri Madhav Raje in Khandwa. In 2000 she completed a post graduate degree in music from Devi Ahilya Vishwavidhyalaya, Indore with first position on the merit list. Then in 2010, she received her doctorate degree (PhD). For the last four years she has been studying Dhrupad singing with the Gundecha Brothers in Dhrupad Sansthan Gurukul, Bhopal.

Rupali is a recipient of the Sir Dorabji Tata Scholarship and the National Scholarship from the cultural department, government of India. She earned the title of “Surmani” for her performance for Sursingar Sansad, Mumbai. Currently she holds the position of Principal at Kiran Vividha Kala College, Bhopal.

Concerts:

2011 Kal Ke Kalakar (Mumbai)

2010 Dhrupad Sandhya (Chennai)

2010 Dhrupad Sandhya (Bangalore and Dharwad)

2010 Dhrupad Sandhya (Pune)

2009 Sanskrit Kaumudi (Vidisha)

2008 Dhrupad Samaroh (Teekamgarh)

2007 Sadhna Mahotsava by South Central Zone Cultural Center (Nagpur)

2006 Pratibha Utsav by North Central Zone Cultural Center (Bhopal)

Virginia Nicoli and Igino Giovanni Brunori

The two artists met in the year 2006 sharing the same quest of music as a spiritual path. They both has been trained  since childhood in in western classical music, Virginia Nicoli with the silverflute and Igino Giovanni Brunori with the saxophone. Soon after they met, they began to study indian classical music with the bansuri. They graduated in bansuri in the Indian Classical Music Conservatorium of Vicenza, and after they deepen the study of bansuri with Pandit Rajendra Prasanna.

In 2009 they started to study with the Gundecha Brothers in the Dhrupad Sansthan of Bhopal. In Dhrupad they found the sound path they were looking for in music. Thanks to the suggestion of their Gurus to use their western instruments in Dhrupad music. They started applying this music style on their instruments, creating a unique sound. They are now performing in Italy and abroad.