Sitar Performance by Abhik Mukerjee

Abhik Mukherjee is a Kolkata-born sitar player of the Etawah-Imdadkhani gharana. He was initiated to sitar at the age of six by his father, Sri Tarit Mukherjee, and Sri Bimal Chatterjee, while simultaneously receiving vocal instruction from Sri Kaylan Bose. He has since taken talim from Pandit Arvind Parikh and Pandit Kashinath Mukherjee, themselves disciples of the legendary Ustad Vilayat Khan. He is a gold medalist in musicology from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, and has also received a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, India.

Monir Hossain, tabla soloist, accompanist, and teacher, was born into a musical family including his father, classical vocalist Ustad Hafiz Hossain, and his grandfather, North Indian classical vocal and tabla researcher Late Ustad Kader Buksh of West Bengal. He is a senior disciple of tabla maestro Pandit Samar Saha of Kolkata. Monir has performed in North America and Canada, India and Bangladesh, along with the Late Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, and others. His performance venues have included the Washington Conservatory of Music, the Peabody Institute, the Smithsonian Institute, M.I.T., and the Public Library in Toronto. He has taught at University of Pennsylvania and currently teaches at India School in Bethesda, MD. Monir received special citation from the Sangeet Piyasi Music Institute at Uttam Manch in Kolkata.