BANSURI PLAYERS AND VIDEOS


Here are details about some famous, reputed and professional bansuri players. I must point out that some players focus more on the classical music whilst others play more fusion and Bollywood music or both. 
While all players below play the classical music, I must point out that Hariprasad Chaurasia, G S Sachdev, Ronu Majumdar, Pannalal Ghosh - who was responsible for making the bansuri what it is today, and others such as Vijay Raghav Rao, Ragunath Seth and Devendra Murdeshwar are all regarded as experts in classical music and improvisation. Some particular players are highly regarded in India and around the world for their work.


PLAYERS


HARIPRASAD CHAURASIA


Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, the internationally renowned exponent of the bansuri or bamboo flute, surprisingly does not come from a long lineage of flautists. His father was a famous wrestler who had aspirations of his son following in his footsteps.
The younger Chaurasia had an early love of music, however, and by the age of 15 was taking his first steps toward a lifetime as a performer by studying classical vocal with Pandit Raja Ram of Benares.
Soon after, he heard a flute recital by Pandit Bholanath and was so impressed he changed his focus to studying the flute. When he was just 19, he got a job playing for All India Radio, Cuttack, Orissa, and within five years he was transferred to their headquarters in Bombay. There he got the additional exposure of performing in one of India's cultural centers and also studied with Shrimati Annapurna Devi, daughter of Ustaad Allauddin Khan of the Maihar School of Music.
There he established the creative peak of his career, developing a style that was respectful of tradition, yet full of innovation. Over a lifetime of performances, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia has become one of India's most-respected classical musicians, earning several awards, including the National Award of the Sangeet Natak Academy, which he won in 1984.
In 1992, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan and the Konarak Samman. In 1994, he was bestowed the Yash Bharati Sanman and in 2000, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan. In the year 2000, he also received the Hafiz Ali Khan Award and the Dinanath Mangeshkar Award. He has collaborated with several western musicians, including John McLaughlin and Jan Gabarek, and has also composed music for a number of Indian films. He has performed throughout the world winning acclaim from varied audiences and fellow musicians including Yehudi Menuhin and Jean Pierre Rampal.

On 1 July, 2008 on the occasion of his 70th Birthday, his official biography "Woodwinds of Change" by Shri Surjit Singh was released by none other than Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. Soon after, Panditji was honoured by the Dutch Royal family at a glittering ceremony at Amsterdam. He was conferred the title OFFICER IN THE ORDER OF ORANGE-NASSAU( “officier in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau”) and was honored by Princess Maxima herself.  Pt. Chaurasia has been teaching Indian music at the Rotterdam Music Conservatory for the past 15 years. He is the Artistic Director of the Indian Music department.

This year shortly after his 71st Birthday he was honored by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of France.  He has been appointed as KNIGHT IN THE ORDER OF ARTS AND LETTER (“Ordres des Arts et Lettres”) in appreciation for the significant contribution he has made to spread culture in France and the rest of the World.

In August this year, Pt. Chaurasia was awarded the National Eminence award, NADA VIDYA BHARTI by Visakha Music and Dance Academy, Vizag.

On 14 September he was bestowed the Honorary Doctorate by the North Orissa University for his unparelleled role and contribution to the world of Indian Classical Music. 

He heads the World Music Department at the Rotterdam Music Conservatory.
He is one of the busiest and most sought-after contemporary musicians in the world today.
He is also a dedicated teacher with several devoted art music students world-wide, many of whom are beginning to make their mark on the concert stage.


    

   
     
RONU MAJUMDAR

India's Ace Flautist , needs no introduction to music lovers all over the globe. By virtue of his phenomenal talent, he and the Bansuri are literally synonymous. If the flute is likened to a temple, Pt. Ronu Majumdar would be its foremost worshipper. Ranendranath Majumdar, popularly known as Ronu Majumdar is a force to reckon with in the realm of Indian classical music both as a thinking musician and scintillating performer. Ronu Majumdar began playing the flute under the guidance of his father Dr. Bhanu Majumdar, late Pt. Lakshman Prasad Jaipurwale and finally the revered Pt. Vijay Raghav Rao. He was also fortunate to receive training from his grand guru Pt. Ravi Shankar. A powerhouse performer, Ronu Majumdar is firmly rooted in the Maihar gharana which has also given shape to sturdy musical oaks like Pt. Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.Ronu ji's Bansuri is transcendental. It transports you to a zone where divinity reigns supreme and produces a balmy effect thereby taking us on a spiritual journey. His Bansuri keeps juggling between eras. At one moment, it reminds you of the mythical Ras Leela of Lord Krishna and his Gopis; the next instance could be a jam session with ace guitarist Ry Cooder and Lary Coryell. Somewhere in between you will find a Grammy Nomination and a concert at The Kremlin, Moscow or The Palais de Beaux Arts, Brussels or Sawai Gandharva Mahotsav, Pune. And mind you, it's the same Bansuri that carries the sound of India's underbelly to the highest echelons of  West.
Pt. Majumdar is a major innovator with New Age Music by having introduced a completely new Aesthetic in Indian Music through his epoch-making album “Song of Nature/ A Traveller's Tale”.  Ronu ji  is also a Grammy Nominee for his work with the Banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck in the album “Tabula Rasa” {1996}. He has performed and composed for the Hollywood movie “Primary Colours” and collaborated with top artists like George Harrison, Ry Cooder, John Hassels, Lary Coryell and Indian maestros like Pt. Ravi Shankar, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt. Jasraj and Kishori Amonkar.
He has extensively recorded for Bollywood greats like R. D. Burman, Gulzar, Khayyam, Vishal Bharadwaj to name a few. In 1994, Ronu ji recorded for the Merchant Ivory film “In Custody”, music of which was composed by Zakhir Hussain. The music of India's first I- Max film (Mystic India) was also scored by Pt. Ronu Majumdar.
His Sadhana School of Music in Chicago, USA is solely aimed at spreading awareness and generating interest about our varied Classical Art forms. While legendary guitarist Ry Cooder called him- “Dr. Feelgood of Indian Flute”, his Guru Pt. Vijay Raghav Rao remarked  “ Ronu is mightier than most of the musicians in the country today”.


    

    


PANNALAL GHOSH


Pt.  Pannalal GhoshBorn in Barisal, East Bengal (now Bangladesh) on July 31, 1911, Amal Jyoti (nicknamed Pannalal) Ghosh was a child prodigy. He inherited his love of music and the bamboo flute (bansuri) from his grandfather, Hari Kumar Ghosh who played sitar, tabla,and pakhawaj and learned sitar from his father, Akshay Kumar Ghosh. He also learned music from his maternal uncle, Bhavaranjan Mazumdar who was a vocalist. The family first lived in the village of Amarnathganj and later moved to the town of Fatehpur.
Two apocryphal incidents happened to young Pannalal which had an influential bearing on his later life. First, at age 9 while looking for a stick, Pannalal found a flute floating in the river. He retrieved the instrument and so began his lifelong relationship with the bansuri. Two years later at age 11 Pannalal met a sadhu who held both a conch and a flute. The sadhu asked Pannalal if he could play the flute, and young Pannalal obliged. The sadhu gave him the flute and told the boy that music would be his 
salvation.


There was a political unrest in 1928, and every youth was possessed with the freedom movement. Pannalal also joined this freedom movement. He enrolled in a gymnasium where he learned martial arts, boxing, and stick fighting and practiced physical culture. Pannalal was very fond of physical culture. He became the best student and champion of this gymnasium. He became more involved in the freedom movement and the British Government started keeping a watch on his movements. So at the age of seventeen Pannalal left Barisal and went to Calcutta in search of livelihood. In the teeming metropolis he found himself without any credentials except that he was a boxing champion and had won the All Bengal competition in boxing. With his skill as a boxer and martial art expert he landed a job as a coach in an athletic club. One year later, at the age of 18, Pannnalal lost his father.

At this time Pannalal, who was already playing sitar, began to focus his attention on bansuri. Economic necessity drove him into performing music for the silent films in Calcutta. At an All India music competition he met music director and composer Anil Biswas and began to play in his musical productions. It was during one such production when Anil Biswas was directing music for a dramatization of a work by the renowned poet Kazi Nazrul Islam that Pannalal decided that he needed a bigger flute who's pitch and sonority would be more appropriate for both classical and light music. He met an old Muslim toy vendor who was also proficient in making flutes. With his help Pannalal experimented with various materials including metal and other types of wood, but decided bamboo was still the most suitable medium for a larger instrument. He finally settled on a bansuri which was thirty two inches long, with a sa (tonic) at kali doe (the second black key on the old harmonium scale). As a flute of this size was hitherto unknown, a rumor arose that Pannalal had had surgery to cut the webbing between his fingers to facilitate the large span required to cover the finger holes of the instrument. Of course, he had no such surgery, but through dedicated riyaz (practice), Pannalal invented and perfected the technique to play the large instrument. At this time he would get his bamboo to make flutes from discarded packing materials found at Diamond Harbor, the large port of Calcutta. Deforestation had not yet consumed the forest around Calcutta, and the bamboo was believed to have grown close to the city itself. He practiced hard and perfected the technique of vocal music on flute. At this time he realized the need for meend from madhyama swar to nishad or dhaivat shrutis in ragas like Bihag, Yaman, Bageshree and many others. He experimented and invented the seventh hole of madhyama.

He became famous for his flute playing and started getting performances at the major music conferences. At this time he came in close contact with great maestros like Ustad Inayat Khan (sitar), Ustad Dabir Khan (Been), Ustad Amir Khan (sarod), Ustad Badal khan (sarangi), and vocalists such as Ustad Faiyaz Khan, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, Ustad Majid Khan, Pt. Tarapoda Chkraborty, Pt. Bhismadev Chattopadhyay and many others. His quest for knowledge and purity of tradition made him acquire intricacies of music from these erudite musicians.

In 1936 Pannalal began working with Raichandra Boral, music director of the well known 'New Theater' and one year later he met his first guru, Kushi Mohammed Khan - the 'Harmonium Wizard'. In 1938 as music director of the dance troupe of the princely kingdom of Seraikella State, Panna Babu (as he was affectionately known) was one of the first classical musicians to visit and perform in Europe, which he found rather agitating and unsettling. Soon after his return to India his guru expired. Thereafter he underwent training from Girija Shankar Chakravarti. In 1940, Pannalal moved to Bombay on the advice of his first disciple Haripada Choudhary (who had himself recently moved to Bombay). There he joined the Bombay Talkies film studio and gave music to quite a few films including 'Basant.' Panna Babu's wife, Parul Biswas, (sister of Anil Biswas), was a graceful singer of kirtans who became one of the first well known playback singers for the new 'talking' films.

Pannalal first met the legendary Ustad Allaudin Khansahib, (reverentialy known as 'Baba') in 1946, when Baba came to Bombay with his disciple, Pandit Ravi Shankar. Initially, when Pannalal asked Baba to teach him Khansaheb replied, "You are already great, you don't need to study more." Pannalal implored Baba to please teach him so that he could learn "authentic music and sur." In 1947, Pannalal's lifelong yearning to learn music from a true guru was fulfilled when Allaudin Khansaheb , convinced of Pannalal's sincerity to learn, accepted Pannalal as his disciple. Pannalal then accompanied Baba to his home in Maihar, where he received intensive taalim (training) from Khansaheb for the next six months. Under Baba's firm yet understanding tutelage, he blossomed into the wizard of the bamboo reed.

Panna Babu earned fame through his regular broadcasts on AIR (All India Radio) and his many live performances at music festivals throughout India. The eminent vocalists Ustad Fayaz Khan and Pandit Omkarnath Thakur appreciated his music very much and requested Pannalal to accompany their vocal recitals on bansuri. He was praised for his adaptation and rendering on the bansuri of the khayal-ang- gayaki (the classical vocal style), particularly influenced by the great master of the Kirana gharana, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. Pannalal also incorporated alap, dhrupad-ang-gayaki, tantrakari, jhala, thumri, dadra and folk music into his performance style on bansuri. Well versed in tabla and rhythm, he would perform in such difficult tals as jhoomra and tilwara. His music was steeped in devotion and had an intangible ethereal element, immense emotional depth and was infused with spiritual profundity. In addition to introducing the larger instrument, Pannalal Ghosh is credited with inventing the bass bansuri and introducing the six-stringed tanpura, high-pitched tanpuri and the surpeti or sruti box into Hindustani music. He created and popularized several new ragas including Deepawali, Pushpachandrika, Hansanarayani, Chandramauli, Panchavati and Nupurdwani, as well as multitudinous vilambit and drut compositions in many well known ragas.

Panna Babu practiced daily meditation and observed maun by not speaking on Thursdays. He took the vows of Ramakrishna and put his faith in music. He took Mantra Diksha from Swami Birjanandji Maharaj who was a direct disciple of Swami Vivekananda. Because of his intense spiritual practice he started loosing interest in day to day life and decided to take Sanyasa. When he expressed his desire to Swamiji, his Guru, he was told that he would attain Moksha through music only. He should practice music as religiously as his spiritual practice. His music showed total spirituality, simplicity and purity.

Pannalal continued composing and recording music for films, but began to find film work distasteful. Panna Babu's impressive rendition of Raga Darbari Kannada in his 1956 National Programme broadcast from AIR Delhi fetched him further acclaim and at this time B.B Keskar, director of AIR, awarded him the meritorious post of composer-conductor of the Indian National Orchestra and producer for AIR Delhi. He held the post and maintained his devotion to the interpretation of classical music on the bamboo flute until his untimely and sudden death due to heart attack at the age of 49 on April 20, 1960 in New Delhi.

He left his musical legacy in the capable hands of his principal disciples:
the late Haripada Choudary, Devendra Murdeshwar, V.G. Karnad and Nityanand Haldipur . 




VIJAY RAGHAV RAO

Vijay Raghav Rao - Flute Master


Vijay Raghav Rao - bansuriVijayji was born in India in 1925 and began learning the bansuri as a child. He studied and worked with Pandit Ravi Shankar for 30 years or so. Vijayji has travelled the world with his music and has composed music for many films. He has also collaborated with various table masters and has taught the bansuri to many people. Among his students are G.S Sachdev and Ronu Manjumdar. 
His success also includes the composition of a variety of ragas and a large number of compositions. 










RAGUNATH SETH 
Pandit Raghunath Seth
Ragunath Seth initially guided by the noted composer and musicologist, Pt S N Ratanjankar’ later moved on to Bombay to get trained by the legendary bansuri master, Pt Pannalal Ghosh.

Ragunath began his career in films in 1951 and later worked as a music director in the films division. As a classical artist, he has been giving performances in India and abroad for many years and has also collaborated with jazz musicians on fusion albums.

Pt. Seth has made major contributions in the enhancement of flute design. A major drawback of playing the flute is the difficulty to achieve the glissando between fourth note (ma) and the fifth note (pa). Experimentalist that he is, he found a novel way to solve the problem. He devised a bamboo key which enabled him to play all the ragas with equal ease. With the use of the key, flautists can easily glide from the lowest to highest note and vice-
versa. Pt. Seth's invention has received much recognition from the press and musicologists.



BAPU PADMANABHA
Little did any one realize that a young lad from tinsel town in Karnataka, whose younger sister bought him a small flute from a village fair, will reach to the heights of one of the favourite disciples of Pt.Hariprasad Chaurasia.Padmanabha Bapu, affectionately known as “Bapu” was studying tool engineering in Hospet(Karnataka). His knowledge of music was limited to the notes of harmonium taught by his grand father. He became so much obsessed with the flute that he started treating his idol Pt.Hariprasad Chaurasia,as his Guru in absentia. He purchased all audio cassettes of Hariji and started imitating his style, he use to practice for hours together and side by side he was continuously searching for a formal flute teacher within Karnataka.The search however brought no results because he  was actually fated to become a disciple of his idol Hariji.
In August 1999,while pursuing 7th semester of his tool engineering programme, his urge brought him to Bombay. Initially he had to face disappointment of not being able to seek a meeting with Hariji and he returned to his college. Bapu was, however in no mood to give up and he was finally able to meet Panditji who admitted him to his class after the demonstration recital. Since this trip to Bombay was without the knowledge and consent of his parents, Bapu had no money with him. He use to attend Hariji’s classes in the morning and work as  a waiter(with pride)in a small restaurant, earning just enough to sustain him in Bombay this exposure for 45 days brought a new confidence and Bapu was fully energized and charged up for a ‘break’. Returning to his college, he received a monthly scholarship called “Panna Devi Music Scholarship” for complete one year. This was a display of a definite confidence that his guru had imposed in him. He completed the tool engineering course securing a first class in the year 2000.
For a fresh mechanical engineer, there were definite options to get employment in Karnataka, but his mind was set towards Bombay because he had a feeling that his profession, finally would be a flute player rather than a mechanical engineer. Fortunately he was offered a job in TACO(tata automotive components)in Pune. He took it as a two fold blessing, firstly Pune being the best cultural centre of India and secondly it being so close to Bombay. While working at TACO, Bapu continued his interest in the flute and majority of his spare time was spent in perfecting his style. He performed at few social as well as cultural venues. His first major performance was at OSHO Samadhi in September 2001. This proved to be a turning point of his music carrier and he inclined himself to devotional and relaxing Indian classical music, he became a composer for FTII Pune, performed at major music festivals in India, and played as a part of music compositions in film industry. By this time, his interests had fully shifted to music and he took a bold decision of leaving his job with TACO and devoting fully to music. Financially, his position also started looking up and he well realized that he had no regrets of this decision. He had local support of some friends and well wishers who encouraged him to go ahead. The results were rewarding and his first CD “VIVIDHA” was launched in Dec 2004. Since then he has launched few more albums which have become very popular specially with the serious kind of music lovers. 

     

        
    

G S SACHDEV

Sachdev performs the classical music of India, a culture with a two thousand year musical tradition. Western listeners accustomed to harmony initially may be deceived by the apparent simplicity of this melodic music. The complexities lie in the subtle variations on the theme, ornamentation of notes, modal coloring, and in the interplay between flute and drums. Since each note stands alone, special care is given to the purity of intonation.
The basis of North Indian music is raga, the melodic form, and tala, the time measure. Thousands of ragas exist, each based on one of ten parent scales. Variousragas are associated with morning, afternoon, and evening, as well as with difference seasons. Beyond the melodic form, each raga encompasses a particular mood and synthesis of emotions which a skillful musician like Sachdev evokes. Improvisation plays an essential part, but always within the established framework of the ragawhich is being expressed.
Indian music has a highly developed rhythmic system known as talaTala denotes an organized rhythmic cycle, composed of various rhythmic units, ranging from three to one hundred and eight beats. All Indian classical music is rooted in the vocal tradition, and the flute is regarded as being especially close to the voice, capable of the many subtle nuances of the vocal style.


Bansuri (bans-bamboo, swar-musical note) is a bass flute made of bamboo with seven open fingerholes. There are no keys to produce sharps and flats, but all the half and quarter tones are produced by carefully opening a small portion of the hole with the finger. The flute is one of the oldest instruments in existence. The bansuri has a three-octave range.
Tabla is a two–piece drum set. The shell of the treble drum is made of wood, and the larger bass drum is made of metal, both with goatskin heads.
The tanpura is a fretless, long–necked gourd, an the swar–peti is a small box with brass reeds and bellows. The drones create atmosphere and register the tonic in the minds of the listener and the performer.


Sachdev devotes most of his time to performing. his frequent European, Asian and American concert tours and numerous recordsing ahve brought him into international prominence as an outstanding classical musician.
He holds a degree in music and is an articulate spokesman for the music of India, conducting master classes, workshops and lecture-demonstrations at the university level. His teaching, radio broadcasts and programs through Young Audiences of the Bay Area have made a large contribution to the growing awareness in the West of classical Indian music.
Forty years endeavor has resulted in both purity of tone and subtleties of rhythm. He brings to the ancient, classical form his own creative improvisations. There is a depth and structure in his music that is indefinable but which reaches to the heart.
Sachdev is on the Roster of Western Arts Foundation Performamce Tours Grant of 13 Western States and the California Arts Council Touring Program. He is also a Recipient of Billboard Magazine's Top Ten & Music Awards Album of the Year. Originally from Chandigarh, India, Sachdev currently makes his home in California.


    

NITYANAND HALDIPUR 


The talented Nityanand Haldipur - ranked among India's leading flautists and a senior disciple of the reclusive genius, Padma Bhushan Smt. Annapurna Devi - represents the pure essence of a highly revered musical heritage.

Born in Bombay in a deeply spiritual family, Nityanand was fortunate to have the right environment for his latent musical talents to blossom. His first guru who initiated him into the art, technique and aesthetics of flute-playing was his father, the late Shri Niranjan Haldipur - a senior disciple of the renowned flute maestro, the late Pandit Pannalal Ghosh. The warm soothing sounds of the bamboo flute were an early, pervading influence. And for young Nityanand to be attracted to the instrument was only natural.

Over the next two decades, Nityanand's training continued under the late Pandit Chidanand Nagarkar, and Pandit Devendra Murdeshwar, seniormost disciple of late Pandit Pannalal Ghosh, under whom Nityanand perfected his technique.


However, it was after 1986, when Padma Bhushan Smt. Annapurna Devi - doyen of the Senia-Maihar gharana - and daughter of the legendary Ustad Allauddin Khansaheb (Baba), the fountainhead of the gharana - accepted him as one of her disciples, that Nityanand's talent and musicianship truly flowered. It progressively acquired depth, maturity and a new dimension.
(Picture: Nityanand at age 9, receiving instruction from Late Pt. Pannalal Ghosh.)

The polished tonal grace, rhythmic elegance, and depth as well as lucidity of expression evident in Nityanand's playing are the result of his continuing advanced training and refinement under Smt. Annapurna Devi. It embodies the hallowed teaching traditions of the Senia-Maihar gharana and follows the same arduous riyaz and persevering commitment that has produced virtuosi like Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, the late Pannalal Ghosh
 and the late Pandit Nikhil Banerjee.

To the rigours of such a preeminent tradition, Nityanand has added his own dedication and finesse - through painstaking practice, assiduous assimilation and erudite presentation. Absorbing what is pure, beautiful and dignified in Hindustani classical music, Nityanand has imbibed the difficult grammar, discipline and subtleties of the rich legacy he has inherited.

While his Dhrupand-ang alaps and the distinctly formatted jod in the vilambit compositions are serene, contemplative and introspective, his drut renderings are lilting and imbued with a fascinating variety of rhythmic patterns. Nityanand has performed at several music conferences including the SAARC Festival and the Apna Utsav series. Music lovers and critics alike, in India and abroad, have acclaimed his imaginative and haunting rendition of ragas. His performances are replete with unexpected, sweet and breathtaking improvisations. An eclectic musician, Nityanand has kept his mind and ears open to the beat that other styles and cultures have to offer. His rich and extensive repertoire covers a wide canvas: from the pure classical to the experimental fusion.

A Top Grade artist of AIR and Doordarshan, Nityanand has participated in the National Programme of Music and the All India Radio Sangeet Sammelan. His music is also available on the Magnasound and Lineage labels. In 2010, Nityanand Haldipur was given the highest award for his contribution to Indian classical music by Sangeet Natak Academy, Govt. Of
India, New Delhi. 




PRAVIN GODKHINDI 
Born in a family of musicians, music is a divine blessing to Pravin. He hails from Dharwad, a place which has given to the world many great musicians like Pt Bhimsen Joshi, Gangubai Hangal and Pt Kumar Gandharva. He is fortunate to have his father Pandit VENKATESH GODKHINDI, an eminent vocalist and Bansuri artiste of the country, as his first and only Guru for Flute. Pravin started toying with a small flute at the tender age of 3 and since then it has been his best companion. His passion for Flute could hardly be matched with anything else even during his childhood. With such a passion blended with early hours of rigorous Riyaz under the able guidance of his guru, Pravin started exhibiting the glimpses of a genius in the making. Pravin gave his first public concert at the age of 6 years and held the audience spellbound. His quest for deeper knowledge about LAYAKAARI brought him to his Guru, Vidwan ANOOR ANANTH KRISHNA SHARMA a reputed Mridangam artiste who is providing able guidance to Pravin on the deeper aspects of LAYA and LAYAKAARI.

His father has taught him BANSURI in KIRANA GHARAANA GAYAKI STYLE. But Pravin added the GATKAARI or TANTRAKAARI STYLE by his own efforts and has mastered the technique. He is adept in both the styles. Sonorous blowing, control over the breath, elaborations of Raga with its aesthetic appeal, extraordinary and skillful rendition of Layakaari are but a few salient features of his flute recital. He has been ably balancing both traditional and creative music. Western classical, Jazz and Carnatic classical also have favorably influenced him.
                                                                                                

RAJENDRA PRASANNA   
Born in 1956, Pandit Rajendra Prasanna is an exemplary exponent of flute (bansuri) and shahnai and comes from a rich lineage of illustrious musicians. Born into a family of famous shahnai players like Pandit Gauri Shankar and Pandit Raghunath Prasanna, young Rajendra Prasanna dived into the mysteries of the divine flute and mastered it to an extent that he became equally proficient in both flute and shahnai, a feat rarely attributed to other musicians. Rajendra Prasanna is well known for the unique blend of fluency and melody in his recitals. His systematic ‘bhadhath’ with an aesthetic approach has been one of the main qualities of his presentations. Padma Bibhusan Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia belongs to the same Gharana as Pandit Rajendra Prasanna. He has travelled extensively all over the world giving performances at major venues and conferences and collected many accolades.



NAVEEN KUMAR

Naveen was born to a family steeped in Gospel Music. Naveen started his musical career at the age of 13 yrs. He, along with his elder brother, Jyothi Kumar, who accompanied him on the tabla, played for many local concerts, and for the Vishakhapatnam radio. Naveen came to the Tamil film industry in the year 1983, with his brother and father.
Flute is his love and life. Naveen has got a various and vast collection of flutes. He is the only flautist in the country who plays such a myriad types of flute. He's got flutes from every corner of the world - from Arabia, Switzerland, China, South Africa, America and of course, the Indian flutes.
Today, Naveen is the main flautist for oscar winner, A. R. Rahman, besides almost all leading composers in the country.
Naveen spends his free time, trying to invent new sound on the flute, or even put together a new structure of the flute. He is very familiar with the writings of Professor Sambamurthy in this regard.

He chose a concert ‘Bansoori’ bamboo flute and attached the tail piece of violin to one end of the flute, with the help of twine and applied glue to fix it. Adopted 4 tuners with screws for tuning the strings. A steel plate the size of a one rupee coin was moulded and used as a base of strings route on the mouth side of the flute. At the ridge of the bamboo, 4 holes were made to enable the strings to pass through the entire bamboo which were carefully placed on to a bridge and attached to the respective tuners.
After proper tuning of the strings, in prakruti swaras, the holes were closed with honey wax. A small pickup from the U.S was used to enhance the sustained quality. Naveen calls his invention the 'Naveen Flute'. It is a combination of flute tone and sympathetic vibration of strings. It will soon be made available on his online ‘flute store’ here.

Naveen performed with AR Rahman and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Southbank centre in London on April 7, 2010.


    


MANOSE SINGH

Manose's hometown, Boudha, Nepal stands on the ancient route leading from the Himalayan mountains down into the Kathmandu valley. It is just upriver from Nepal's most holy Hindu temple, and is home itself to an important Buddhist shrine. An influx of Tibetan refugees who congregated around the great Boudhanath shrine, and the outward growth of Kathmandu city has created there a nexus where everyone from religious pilgrims, to enclaves of traders, and Western adventurers converged to meet, mingle, haggle, and gawk. It is dusty and colorful, a Babylon of languages and traditions


Manose's real relationship with music began when Manose heard about an old man who played the shenai. That man, Madan Dev Bhatta, a disciple of Ustad Bishmilallah Khan, initiated Manose into the study of classical raga music, often known as North Indian classical music. Musical Achievements
From the demanding study of raga music, Manose has acquired technical mastery and an astonishing ability to improvise. At the same time, we find him wonderfully free to draw inspiration from wherever he finds it, be it the swaying sweetness of a samba, or the lightening fast lines of Celtic masters. When asked what or who has had the greatest musical influence on his playing, he thinks for a moment and says "the sound of the flute."
Manose has released four solo CDs and is ever-more popular as a contributing artists for work by everyone from Deva Premal, and Grammy-nominated Jai Uttal to bluegrass great, Peter Rowan. He has also collaborated with the Chicago Children's Choir, tabla maestro Swapan Chowdary, John Densmore of the Doors, and The New Maihar Band, an ensemble created by Ustad Ali Akhbar Khan. Even while living in the United States, he still manages to be a vital part of the music scene back home. He is a founding member of the classical raga group Sukarma, his music videos air regularly on Nepali TV, he performs annually in Nepal's jazz festival where he has shared the stage with Australian maestro Don Burrows, and as a member of the nation's top rock band, 1974AD, it has been his privilege to re-popularize his traditional flute in his country where he was the first to introduce it as a rock instrument. Manose has toured in Canada, Australia, France, England, Switzerland, Germany, Hong Kong, and Malaysia and it is his ongoing pleasure to be Nepal's musical ambassador to the world.