Hindustani Classical Music and Dance Festival

Swapan Chaudhuri is considered one of the top masters of tabla in the world. He is the Director of Percussion at Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California. He developed his skill through years of accompanying Ali Akbar Khan and other leading musicians of India.

Pandit Habib Khan began his sitar training at the age of five under the strict eye of his accomplished father and has emerged among his peers as an ambassador of Indian classical music. Creating music that spans many genres, Khan has become an important contributor to the Indo-American classical music world as well as to the jazz scene and the fusion movement in the United States. As an accomplished composer and vocalist, he is as much at ease with light classical and devotional music as he is with pure classical renderings of Indian ragas. Khan frequently uses Western guitar, drums, violin, and Japanese Taiko drums in his orchestral compositions.

Labonee Mohanta, trained by Kathak maestro Pandit Chitresh Das since the young age of 8, proves to light the stage with her speed, grace, and flare.She brings mesmerizing movements, fiery footwork, and rhythmic exploration to the stage, and is well-known to amaze audiences with her lightning speed spins.As one of the most energetic dancers of her generation, Labonee Mohanta has performed powerful displays of both dance & music to great acclaim in dance festivals throughout the US, Canada, and India.She also employs Panditji’s innovation Kathak Yoga where she simultaneously sings the rhythmic cycle, dances complex mathematical patterns, and plays the harmonium.In addition to dancing as a Kathak soloist, Labonee tours internationally with the Chitresh Das Dance Company and is a teacher and branch director at the Chhandam School of Kathak.

Dr. Pooja Goswami Pavan is a Hindustani classical vocalist, composer, teacher and scholar. Growing up in an environment of music and theater, she developed a deep interest in composing music to verses in Hindi and Urdu. The versatility in Pooja’s repertoire is evident in her ability to sing Thumri, Dadra, Ghazal, Bhajan, Sufiana Kalam and folk genres such as the Hori, Chaiti & Kajri besides the Khayal. Pooja was trained in Hindustani music by Pandit Surendra Goswami, Professor Ajit Singh Paintal and continues her advanced training in Khayal with her brother Professor Shailendra Goswami. She has also been trained in semi-classical music by the eminent vocalist Vidushi Shanti Hiranand. Pooja received a Ph.D. in Indian Classical Music from the University of Delhi.

Dr. Pavan, Ph.D., based in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, is a Tabla player and teacher. He initially trained in Tabla under Sri G. Laxmiah and has studied with several masters over the years. He presently trains with Sri Rajendra Nakod and Ustad Shabbir Nisar, the illustrious son and disciple of the Tabla legend Ustad Shaik Dawood Khan. He has performed for Katha Dance Theater, Pangea World Theater, and Indian Music Society of Minnesota (IMSOM) in several productions and concerts. Pavan also appears on recordings of world/fusion music with many Minnesota based artists. Pavan co-composed and performed with Nirmala Rajasekar, Minnesota based Veena artist, the score for Pangea World Theater’s production “Partitions” in 2002, and the score for “5 Weeks” in 2017 with Dr. Pooja Goswami Pavan, his wife, who is a Hindustani vocalist, teacher and composer.

Kedar Naphade is a leading concert Harmonium soloist, accompanist, and educator specializingin Indian Classical, Semi-Classical, Devotional, Ghazal and Folk Music.. Over a performance career spanning more than 30 years, Kedar has been featured as a soloist
and accompanist at numerous concerts in India, US, Canada and Europe. This includes
prestigious venues such as The Carnegie Hall (NY), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NY), The Lincoln Center(NY), The Smithsonian Institute (Washington D.C.), The California Theater (San Jose,CA) Dadar Matunga Cultural Center (Mumbai), Alladiya Khan Smruti Samaroha (Mumbai) and The World Harmonium Summit (Bangalore).

He has also performed at numerous devotional and spiritual concerts at Ashrams and events like Sivananda Ashram, NY, Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, PA, Chinmay Naad Bindu festival in CA, Anand Ashram, NY, Arsha Bodha center, NJ and “I meditate NY” with Chandrika Tandon and Sri Sri Ravishankar at Lincoln Center, New York.

Kedar’s music has been broadcast on National Public Radio in the US and several other
radio stations in the US and UK.