Hindustani Percussion Ensemble

Taal-Tarang

Saturday, October 24th, 2009 @ 7:00 PM

Venue:

Graham Chapel
Washington University Campus

6445 Forsyth Blvd
Saint Louis, MO 63105

Tickets: $20 General, $10 Students
Free for Sangeetha Members

Abhijit Banerjee’s

TARANG Percussion Ensemble
MELODICAL RHYTHM –CREATING A NEW DIMENSION

“TARANG”, a brainchild of Abhijit Banerjee, is a blend of melody and rhythm played by a group of innovative musicians on various instruments some of those are seldom heard and mingled together. Here the sounds of percussion are transformed into music, blend itself with melody; the inspiring renditions of complicated rhythmical structures are effortlessly flowed into a musical form.   In TARANG, Abhijit , one of the top-ranking musicians of India, focuses on the concepts of mixing popular Indian percussion instruments like TABLA, PAKHAWAJ, and KHANJIRA and unique folk instruments as ektara, Khamak. with the foreign instruments like KAJON, KONGO, TUMBAK and Taiko.

The journey of TARANG starts with its first CD came out from German Tim company followed by a successful tour in the US. They performed for important venues like CNBC, World beat centre, San Diego.

In India Abhijit has performed with his group TARANG in various prestigious organizations. Percussive Art centre, Bangalore, American Center, New Delhi, Suburban Music Circle, Mumbai,  B.E. College REBECA fest, Haldia Utsav ,2007 to name a few.

Abhijit Banerjee

Considered among the front ranking tabla players from India, Abhijit Banerjee is one of the most sought after creative artists in the realm of Indian classical music.  With nearly 20 years of professional experience Abhijit has crafted a unique style and creative approach which has brought him accolades and awards from allover the world for his sensitivity, skill and deep sense of musicality.  Apart from his contributions to Indian music he has left his mark in a diverse field of crossover music both as a performer and composer.

Abhijit has been holding center stage in all of the major classical music festivals in India. and touring extensively in USA, Canada, U.K., Europe, Japan, Australia, South Africa, South East Asia and Mexico giving concerts, conducting workshops and attending seminars in the Universities and music schools. His International performances of note include Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Gevant Haus in Germany, Paleis in Brussels, Theatre de la Ville & Radio France in Paris, South Bank, U.K.  Abhijit also has had the honor of representing India in the Granada Festival of Music in Spain. Abhijit has scored music for Indian television & won the National Award for Documentary Music for the film about Calcutta ‘The Trail’, which was screened in the Munich and Amsterdam film festivals.

Somnath Roy

Somnath, is an Innovative versatile percussionist who as made an in-depth study in both north and south Indian style of percussion. An inevitable part of TARANG since its conception and a sought after percussionist in the film industry, Somnath has shared the stage with great maestros of Indian Music and has the privileges of participating in World music festivals like ETNI MALAGA FEST (Spain), India Festival (Belgium).

Goutam  Shome

Gautam shome. a veteran keyboard player in the film industry of Eastern India is also  a unique arranger and has arranged for many TV serials and film music. He himself is a composer and many of his composed title music are some of the most popular TV shows. He has worked with great composers such as Satyajit Ray, Salil Chowdhury, Manna Dey to name a few.

Snehashish Majumdar

Snehasish Majumdar is among those few established musicians in India who has mastered the art of playing Mandolin and has blended it perfectly into the style of Indian Classical Music. . An integral part of TARANG Snehashish, besides performing in all the major festivals in India, has extensively toured Europe, U.K., and USA and has the reare privilege of participating in the George Harrison Memorial concert, held in Royal Albert Hall. He is the recipient of Surmani and Jadubhatta Awards

Patrick Ritchie

Patrick Ritchie is a student of Pandit Abhijit Banerjee and a well known percussionist from Los Angeles. Though he has learned tabla from Abhijit Banerjee he has exercised his skills in playing various types of drums including the Calypso. He is also a very good tabla player. In Tarang Mr. Patrick Ritchie plays an innovative role by playing different types of percussion adding a wonderful flavor to the music and also acts as an active member of the group while touring outside India.