The fantastic ensemble of Swadesh musicians are introduced and share their experience of the production and thoughts on Swadesh.
Jasdeep Singh Degun Sitar
Jasdeep Singh Degun is a young and upcoming sitarist born and raised in Leeds, UK. Having studied Indian Classical vocals from a young age, Jasdeep started learning the sitar at the late age of 15. He has acquired a deep insight into the art of Indian Classical music and continues to do so with his teacher, Ustad Dharambir Singh MBE. Jasdeep was a member of Samyo, The National Youth Orchestra for Indian Music and has now graduated to become a key member of The National Ensemble for Indian Music, Tarang.
Sawani Mudgal Hindustani Vocal
Born into a family of musicians, Sawani was initiated into music at an early age at the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, New Delhi started by her grandfather Padmashri Pt. Vinaya Chandra Maudgalya and currently headed by her father, and Guru, Padmashri Madhup Mudgal. As an artiste trained in numerous performing disciplines, Sawani has performed in a diverse array of settings. With her Guru, some of Sawani’s notable international performances have been in Brazil, Russia, Pakistan, and Morocco. As a lead vocalist for classical Odissi performances, Sawani has toured across France, Greece, the United States and UK. One of Sawani’s foremost goals is to creatively engage the emerging youth population by sharing with them her musical experience.
Aditya Prakash Carnatic Vocal
Aditya Prakash is an award-winning, American-born Indian classical vocalist best known for his powerful and emotive voice. Although firmly rooted in South Indian classical (Carnatic) music, his style is heavily inspired by North Indian classical music, Sufi music, Western classical, jazz, flamenco, and hip hop, which he brings out in his collaborative projects. The depth of his Carnatic training allows for him to bridge the gap between the rich, sacred and ancient art form and today’s interconnected, diverse environment.
Working on the production was great because I was able to collaborate with amazing musicians from different musical backgrounds and work with three of India’s top young dancers. I thought Swadesh was a very intelligent, thought-provoking and aesthetic collaboration of North Indian and South Indian music as well as Bharatanatyam, Odissi and Kathak. Although we were on an incredibly tight time schedule, the music and dance flowed together pretty seamlessly and we all enjoyed working on this in the process. It was a pleasure to see my compositions come to life with wonderful musicians who I had never had the opportunity to work with before.Prathap Ramachandra Mridangam and Kanjira
Sri R.R.Prathap is a versatile artist from Bangalore south India, who is a student of Vidwan. K.N.Krishanmurthy He also plays in many fusion groups and has also worked on composing for contemporary music and dance groups all over Europe. Prathap also specialises in conducting dynamic, powerful and unique interactive drumming workshops and residencies for school kids of different age groups, and special needs people.
Kousic Sen Tabla
A versatile and popular percussionist, Kousic Sen was trained by a widely respected Prof. Biswanath Bose, and later by Tabla Master Pt Kumar Bose. He has performed with a variety of Artistes of Classical Music and Dance, as well as with ensembles performing a range different world music genres. Born into a musical family, his music experience began at a very young age,, and since has quickly established himself as a leading tabla player of the world.
Budhanath Swain Pakawaj
Budhanath Swain is a highly talented percussionist. He works extensively performing in music ensembles, and as an accompanist for dance specialising in playing the Mardal for Odissi. He has toured throughout India and won several competitions in classical and folk music of India.
Madhu Tanjorkar Violin
Madhu Tanjorkar is a UK based violinist and vocalist, originally from Mumbai, India. Born with talent in both music and dance, Madhu was introduced to music by her father, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Guru Shekhar Tanjorkar, from whom she inherited her devotion to music. She has been a member of Tarang since 2011 whith whom she has performed around the UK in many high profile venues. As a solo artist, Madhu performs both the Hindistani and Carnatic styles extensively across UK, India and Europe. Her performances have been credited for her dynamic stage presence and humility.
Read more about the production on our blog.
