Pandit Ronu Majumdar & Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh
India
In the Indian tradition of musicians as gandhavas – celestial beings – Pandit Ronu Majumdar and Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh perform with both spiritual inspiration and highly developed artistic expression. Both are international stars of traditional Indian music, and together they perform works from the distinct musical styles of North and South India. Ronu’s career has seen him move through classical music to Bollywood, Hollywood and collaborations with an extraordinary range of artists including Ravi Shankar, Philip Glass, Bela Fleck, Baaba Maal and Zakir Hussain. Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh has dedicated her life to the Saraswathi veena, and is renowned for bringing out the “voice” of the instrument, with her originality of content, technique, virtuosity and expression.
Pandit Ronu Majumdar
Renowned for his mastery of Indian flute and his ability to cross time periods and musical genres with his playing, Pandit Roni Majumdar’s music is divine to the ears, offers solace to the mind and brings comfort to the soul. His specialty instrument is the shank bansuri, a three-foot-long flute that he designed with an extra octave in the lower register. While his roots are in Hindustani classical music, he is an innovative composer of fusion music and has been an ongoing presence on Bollywood and Hollywood soundtracks since the early nineties. His international profile has seen him collaborate with artists including Ravi Shankar, Philip Glass, Ry Cooder, George Harrison and many more.
Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh
The international torch bearer for India’s national instrument, the saraswathi veena, Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh truly embodies the rich musical heritage of India. An artist, collaborator, composer, researcher, creator, pioneer and educator, her musical achievements have made her a legendary veena master. Jayanthi comes from a lineage of musicians who have been practising the music of South India for six generations. As a pioneer in her field, Jayanthi has presented veena music to audiences in every corner of the world, from the San Francisco Jazz Festival and the BBC Proms in London to the United Nations in New York.
Both artists will be accompanied on mridangam by the extraordinary and highly sought-after percussionist Arjun Kumar.
Presented with the Spirit of India Fund. A program established to honour the work of Mohindar Dhillon and with the curatorial advice of Dr L Subramaniam and & the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival and with the support of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.