Artists
Supriya Nagarajan - Vocalist
Supriya was born in Bombay, India and started learning Carnatic music at the age of five from Mrs Parvathi Krishnamurthy.
Supriya was encouraged at every step by her mother Mrs Susila Srinivasan who was a degree holder in Music from Chennai University.
After learning the basics, she received advanced training from one of the most renowned gurus in Bombay Smt T R Balamani for the next Fifteen years. Her love and passion for music earned her many awards and accolades from various music organisations in Bombay, where she gave various performances and won prizes in competitions. She was also a B- high graded artist at All India Radio whilst residing in India.
After migrating to the UK where she is now settled with her husband and children, Supriya continued her pursuit of music and is now well established among the local community here. She has set up her own organisation Manasamitra and believes passionately in propagating Carnatic music within the UK.
Jayalakshmi Ganapathy - Classical Dancer
Jayalakshmi has been under the tutelage of the late Guru Shri Krishna Panicker and Guru Smt Ambica Viswanathan from the age of six. She performed her arangetram at the age of 16. She has graduated in dance from the University of Bombay under the guidance of Dr Kanak Rele.
She had the privilege of learning Kuchipudi from Guru Vempatti Chinnasatyam and Odissi from Guru Ravindra Attibuddhi and Guru Trinath Maharana. She has performed at various dance festivals and venues in India and abroad.
Her dance is enhanced by her sense of rhythm, excellent technique and enthralling abhinaya.
Dr.Jyotsna Srikanth - Violinist
Dr.Jyotsna Srikanth started learning Carnatic music from her mother Smt.Rathna Srikantiah from the age of five. She then learnt violin under the learned R.R Keshavamurthy, the living legend of seven stringed violin. She gave her first performance at the age of nine. She is an all rounder who has given numerous solo concerts, jugalbandhi concerts, jazz - fusion concerts apart from accompanying most of the stalwarts in Carnatic Music Dr. Balamuralikrishna, Sudha Raghunathan, Nityashree etc. Her violin playing has a nice blend of 'bhava' [musical expression and emotion] and technique. She has been featured in all major festivals in India and abroad (Europe, USA, Canada, Singapore, Dubai). She has received many awards and titles, notable among them are Ananya Yuva Puraskar Award-2003, Best Violinist Award from Music Academy, Madras, "VADYA VICHAKSHANA" title from Swami Chinmayanandaji.
She is also an accomplished western classical violinist too and has passed all the grade examinations from Royal College of Music, London. Jyotsna has played violin for nearly 200 commercial Indian films. She has composed music for teleserials, dance ballets and albums.
She is a medical doctor, a post graduate in Pathology. She is now into music completely and is presently based in London. Her workshops on Indian - Western violin techniques & Indian - Western Music - comparisons have been well received
Jesse Bannister - Hindustani Saxophanist
Jesse Bannister is the only professional Indian saxophonist in the UK. His unique style transforms his instrument, making it easy to mistake for a sweet and mellifluous flute at times and for a powerful and direct shehnai at others. Jesse is fresh back from a tour of the United States. He has also appeared in Europe on many occasions as well as in India to high acclaim. He has played at the QEH, the Barbican, and the Jazz Café as well as with Siva Raman, and Harishankar.
R.N. Prakash - Ghatam Player
R.N.Prakash is a versatile artist from Bangalore South India who is specialized in South Indian Percussion Instruments like Mridangam, Ghatam, and Khanjira. Prakash started learning Mridangam at the age of 6 from Bangalore Vidwan K.N.KrishnaMurthy.
MR. Prakash started to perform at a very early age and even started to travel abroad at a very early age, which bought him to England at the age of 17. He is a regular traveller to America, Canada and travelled widely across Europe like Italy, France, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, etc.
R.N.Prakash is an all rounder who has performed various classical concerts, Jugalbandhi (mixture of North and south music) Fusion bands, and Jazz bands. He has performed for quite a few prestigious organizations in India & abroad.
Kamaljeet Ajimal - Santoor Player
Kamaljeet Ajimal, talented musician and dedicated artist is the only female santoor player at her level. Kamaljeet began learning through part time santoor classes at the Leeds College of Music with noted artist, widely known in Indian music education, Dharambir Singh.
Kamaljeet has attended many music festivals and on entering the Croyden Music Festival, won the ‘AMC’ scholarship from which she has benefited in the continuance of her music training. In 2002 Kamaljeet ventured to Mumbai to see Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma where her skills only flourished further under his tutelage. Kamaljeet now learns under one of his most senior students, Harjinderpal Singh, who resides in England.
Kamaljeet performs both solo and ensemble, having taken part in national tours with Samyo (South Asian Music Youth Orchestra) and with Tarang. Both of these combine North and South classical elements and some Western elements, providing her with a great variety of experience. Kamaljeet was also invited to perform in the international youth world music festival which took place in France where she was exposed to a plethora of different musical tastes.
Kamaljeet has recently joined a ‘jazz’ group called ‘Fused’ who create a wide range of music. This provides ample opportunity for her to become even more flexible in terms of technique and style.
Kamaljeet is a very versatile artist in every sense of the word, having completed a fine art degree; her creativity shows as she executes any musical challenge with not only proficiency but flair! Her dynamics and aptitude are unquestionable making her an excellent asset to any team.
Kamaljeet divides her time between working, painting and teaching (in schools or workshops) all of which allow her to express herself to the best of her ability and of which she is incredibly devoted.
Devika Rao - Classical Dancer
Devika Rao is a very talented young dancer trained in classical South Indian dance styles bharathanatyam and Kuchipudi. Her abhinaya and footwork has been described as Brilliant in many reviews in India and UK where she has performed.Her gurus were Vidhwan Chandrasekhar Navada, Guru Venkatraman Ital , Guru Kolyur Ramachandra Rao, Kolyur Vidya Rao and currently she is continuing her training with the esteemed Kuchipudi guru Vyjayanthi Kashi.
Devika is also a trained Yakshagana artist. Yakshagana is a rare and unique theatre of India and has a recorded history of five centuries.Being a rich artistic blend of racy music, forceful dance, extempore speech and gorgeous costumes this art combines feature of open area as well as drama the characteristics of moral education and mass entertainment.
Tehmina Shah - Calligraphist
Tehmina is a community artist working mainly with visual arts, specialising in calligraphy. She has worked in various school projects throughout Yorkshire and was a teacher before she took up calligraphy full-time.
Sonali Jain - Bollywood Dancer
Sonali is a freelance dance artist with the flair for Folk & Bollywood dances.
She believes in delivering meaning & emotions through her dance. She hasparticipated and choreographed dances for various events.
Bollywood dances: ‘Mere Hatoin Main’ (Chandni), ‘Payaliya ‘, ‘Humma Humma’(Bombay ), ‘Morni baga ma bole ‘(Lamhe ), ‘Bole Chudiya ‘(Khabhi Kushi Kabhi Gam ), ‘Dhoom macha le’ (Dhoom).
Folk Dances: Rajashthani folk on a song ‘Mhara gam khatawarde’, Punjabi Gidhha, Koli Dance, Garba & Dandia .
Satnam Galsian - Punjabi Singer
Satnam is a young British Asian vocalist who is fast making a mark on the Indian Music scene in the UK.
She graduated from Birmingham Conservatoire where she completed her BMus (Hons) Raga Sangeet degree. There she studied North Indian classical vocals under the tutelage of renowned classical singer, Sanchita Pal.
Satnam’s individual style and versatility is demonstrated through a repertoire ranging from devotional and light classical compositions to Punjabi folk.
Recently Satnam toured internationally with leading dance company ‘Sonia Sabri Company’, on their production ‘Red’ and continues to perform with them on a regular basis.
She is also the leading vocalist of an innovative fusion ensemble ‘Acoustic Vibe’ which integrates Punjabi and Hindi songs with elements of blues, jazz, classical Indian and West African styles.
Satnam’s young and fresh approach to Indian music produces a unique sound, making it relevant and accessible to audiences of all ages and cultural backgrounds.
A passionate performing artist and teacher, Satnam can be booked for:
- Solo performances with live music for social and corporate events
- Conducting workshops in schools and community venues.
Sharanya Rajgopal - Carnatic Vocalist and Bharatnatyam Dancer
“To live is Divine but to experience deeply is Worship” is what 22 year old Sharanya believes in. Her very own philosophy is what grounds this young performer and teacher from Mumbai, India, pursuing her Masters in International Journalism at Leeds University. She has been trained in classical Carnatic vocals and Bharatnatyam from the age of five. Music and Dance are her greatest passions and she enjoys exploring beyond the territories of the classical structure of the art forms. She uses both music and dance as effective tools to communicate and express herself and experience her life deeply.
As a teacher, her unique sense of expression has spread to over 6000 students whom she has trained both in India and in the UK. She enjoys working with children but at the same time has also conducted workshops successfully for people from all age groups. Sharanya enjoys working with themes that are abstract but yet related to day to day life. She has also worked with disabled children exploring the power of Music Therapy.
As a performer, she has won several accolades in India and has performed on many prestigious platforms in India, UK and Muscat. She enjoys traveling and meeting people from different cultures.
Currently she has been conducting numerous Indian Music and Dance workshops for kids in the age group of 5-10.
Shameela Hussain - Visual Art Projects Manager
I believe that colour is subjectively powerful enough to describe and represent human emotions, forming the ability to visually communicate.
The key focus within my paintings is to create works which through the power of the surface qualities evoke expressive and emotional responses in a viewer. My interest lies in ensuring my paintings contain aesthetic qualities which evoke aesthetic perceptions.
My work involves the experiment of abstract paintings with the concept to communicate personal experiences. My paintings bare no direct resemblance to anything in nature. Having said this, my inspirations are drawn from elements within nature such as, affects of weather conditions, light within a woodland area, depending on time of day.
The process of making the painting holds importance for me as it is the process that conveys an emotion that I choose to portray,
In one sense when I produce my paintings I am challenging myself to convey a message, emotions and experiences.
