Pandit Shantanu Bhattacharyya is one of the finest vocalists in Hindustani Raag Sangeet today.  He came first in both Khayal and Thumri categories in the Akashbani Music Competition at the age of 20, and achieved the Top Grade designation from Prasar Bharati early in his career.

Initiated into music by his mother, Ira Bhattacharyya, Shantanu received further training from Sukhendu Goswami and received extensive taalim from the stalwarts Pandit Prasun Banerjee and Vidushi Meera Banerjee, both of whom had studied under the late Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, the legendary exponent of Patiala gharana singing style. Shantanu also studied with Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata.

Smt. Durba Bhattacharyya is an acclaimed performer (vocalist as well as a harmonium accompanist), and is a guru of Hindustani classical vocal music – Khayal, Bhajan and Ragashrayee Bengali songs. A regular broadcaster from Akashvani Kolkata, she has performed all over India and in the USA, Canada & Europe. Durba is an ex-scholar of ITC Sangeet Research Academy under Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, and, like her husband Pandit Shantanu Bhattacharyya, has learnt extensively from Late Guruma Meera Banerjee, the doyenne of Patiala gharana. She is a Gold Medalist from Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh, and has several music albums to her credit.

Mitra Bhatacharyya has learnt singing from her mother, Smt. Durba Bhattacharyya and has been taking advanced taalim from her father, Pandit Shantanu Bhattacharyya.

She stood first in some of the National-level raag sangeet competitions and has performed in several cities in India, as well as in Italy, the USA, and Canada.

Mitra has pursued both her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, and aspires for a synthesis of music and academics in herself to present an integrated form of art that is rooted and yet ever-evolving.

She also thoroughly enjoys training younger children in the fundamentals of raag sangeet.

A skilled jazz saxophonist hailing from Toronto, Canada, Jonathan Kay embarked on a unique musical journey in pursuit of non-western musical knowledge. He relocated to Kolkata and Santiniketan for a decade, immersing himself in the guru-shishya paramparic tradition under the guidance of vocalist Pandit Shantanu Bhattacharyya and esraj player Abir Singh Khangura. Kay became the pioneer in performing the full form of vocal raaga music (vilambit khayal) on the shrutiphone, a saxophone he customized to adhere to raaga temperament. Additionally, he stands out as one of the rare boro esraj players, following the tantra-kari style in the lineage of Ranadhir Roy. Fusing his experiences in jazz and raaga music,  Kay is shaping a transcultural approach to experimental improvisation with his bands Monsoon, Kayos Theory, and The Coltrane Sutras.

Andrew Kay is an acclaimed musician and composer from Toronto, Canada, writing and performing music ranging from Indo-Jazz, World Music, and Indian Classical Raga Music to Contemporary Jazz and Improvised Music. He is among one of the first musicians in the world to perform Indian Classical music on the Alto Saxophone after spending more than a decade living and studying in the traditional Guru-Shishya parampara system with his Guru in Kolkata, India. He has also pioneered a unique set of tuned Himalayan Singing Bowls that he performs with, as well as using tuning forks, various woodwinds, and hand percussion. He is a seasoned performer with dozens of feature concerts around the globe with world-renowned maestros and is the co-leader of many successful creative musical projects. 

Sri Sudhir Kumar Ghorai is an accomplished Tabla artist and a senior disciple of the legendary maestro, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, since 1990. Under his guru’s guidance, Sudhir has mastered the nuances of Tabla and established himself as a sought-after accompanist for both vocal and instrumental classical music.