===================================================================
NAME:
:
Anand Lakshminarayanan
ADDRESS
:
Seattle
PHONE NUMBER
:
703 698 1210
BASIC PROFILE
:
Bass Guitarist
===================================================================
Objective:

To promote, compose, play and enjoy especially Indian music as a
pervasive medium for self-expression.
Background:







6 years of carnatic classical music training on the violin. Started learning
music in my 4th grade and learned from Classical Master Lalgudi
Jayaraman's family. (1984-1991)
Learned to play the Trumpet in school as a part of school music band for
about 4 years (1986-1993).
Learned to play Bass Guitar from my father who is an accomplished Bass
guitarist himself in Chennai, India
Played Bass guitar for the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (Light
music and Western music bands) through my 4 years of college. (19931997)
Entered the Rasika band in 1998; playing in concerts in Atlanta,
Charlotte, Augusta, San Jose, Richmond to name a few of our concert
venues over the last three years. (1998-Current)
Currently training with Alter Ego School of music, Chantilly, VA for Jazz
music Bass guitar (2000-Current).
Also familiar with playing Electric (Rhythm Guitar) and Keyboards
Interests:

Indian Classical Music (Carnatic) & Hindustani, Indian Light Music (Hindi,
Tamil, Bengali...), Jazz Music (Big Band Jazz, Solo, Classic Jazz), Blues
and Classic Rock.
=============================================================
NAME
:
Priya Raman
ADDRESS
:
4275 Cambry Ln , Dublin Oh 43016
PHONE NUMBER
:
614-799-1007
BASIC PROFILE
:
Female Singer
===================================================================
 Learnt Carnatic Vocal Classical Music from Smt Prabhavati (disciple of ML
Vasantakumari) and then from sri.parameswaran (disciple of Chembai
Vaidyanatha Bagavathar) for around 10 years.
 Sang for BITS Pilani music club (light music) from 1991-95.
 Sang for Raagam, light music band in Chennai, 1996-98
 Singing for Rasika, band based in Atlanta since 1998. Have sung for concerts in
Atlanta and California with Rasika. 1998-present
 Performed as guest artist at Minneapolis for Tarang Feb 2001.
 Singing for Sangam, light music band in Columbus, OH since 2000.
 Concerts in Dayton, Columbus, Athens, Michigan, 2000-present.
===================================================================
NAME
:
Kavitha Srinivasan
ADDRESS
:
1616 S. College Avenue
PHONE NUMBER
:
918-745-1242
BASIC PROFILE
:
Female Solo Vocalist
Email
:
sksg@swbell.net
===================================================================
Learning Experience:
 Singing since the age of 3 years. Initially started learning under guidance from
her father, who is a composer/singer. Later learned Hindustani Classical vocal
music from Shrimati Lalitha Karulkar and Shrimati Vasumati Dantale. Also, had
an opportunity to learn and work with various accomplished Light Music
Composers from All India Radio, Hyderabad.
Academic Experience:
 In 1988 completed 4 years Sangeeth Visharadh in Hindustani Classical Vocal
Music. Also, completed 2 years Honors Diploma in Hindustani Classical Vocal
Music in 1990.
Achievements:
 From 1987 - till date: Sugam Sangeeth Artist in All India Radio, Hyderabad, India.
 Since 1988 has been singing for television as Sugam Sangeeth Artist in
Doordarshan, Hyderabad, India.
 1995 - Won award in the "Close-up Antakshari" conducted by Zee TV in Mumbai,
India.
 From 1998 - till date: Member of Rasika Music group and has been performing in
their annual programs for the last 3 years in USA.
 In 1990 won the National Award in Light Music competition conducted by All
India Radio. This is one of the highest nationally recognized awards in India for
outstanding performance in the Light Music category.
 Won number of awards in the Inter collegiate competitions and competitions
conducted by Rotary Club and Lions Club.
 From 1987 - 1989 - Served as Cultural Secretary in Undergraduate school for 2
consecutive years.
===================================================================
NAME
:
Poojaa Chiplunkar
ADDRESS
:
7651 Van Hoy drive, Richmond VA-23235
PHONE NUMBER
:
804 276 9140
BASIC PROFILE
:
Female Lead Vocalist
EMAIL
:
pchiplunkar@hotmail.com
===================================================================
QUALIFICATIONS:
 Visharad in Hindustani Classical music from Gandharva University, India (1996).
RESUME:

Professional singer performing and learnt music since the age of 8 years.

Learnt classical and light music from late Shri Vijay Singh Chauhan and achieved
Visharad in Classical music under the guidance of Shri A.P.Narayangaonkar in
Mumbai, India.

Specializes in light and semi-classical bhajans, ghazals and film songs, Lata
Mangeshkar and Jagjit Singh being the music idols.

Learnt voice culture under the guidance of Ghazal Maestro Jagjit Singh and his
Guru sister Geeta Prem.

Recording artist for All India Radio singing light Ghazals and Bhajans.

Performed all over USA during a four month professional trip in 1999.

Achieved several awards in intercollegiate competitions including first place
awarded by music directors Shyam-Sunder in 1994.

Stage and recording artist, recorded for private music albums including duet song
with Shri Udit Narayan.

Performed solo all over India and USA achieving loud applause from audiences
for her ‘gayaki’, voice quality and presentation.
===================================================================
NAME
:
Prabodh Chiplunkar
ADDRESS
:
7651 Van Hoy drive, Richmond VA-23235
PHONE NUMBER
:
804 276 9140
BASIC PROFILE
:
Male Lead Vocalist
EMAIL
:
probodh@yahoo.com
===================================================================

Professional singer performing all over USA since 5 years.

Basically from Indore, MP, India, the natural talent comes from first childhood
inspiration, his Mother Nandini Chiplunkar who is also a student of Hindustani
classical music maestro late Shri Kumar Gandharva.

Performs a variety of Indian music including old and new Hindi film songs Kishore
Kumar being the basic inspiration and music Idol.

Also masters Quawali and light Ghazals.

Selected for International SAREGAMA in 1999.

Won the 1st runner up position in the Final round of International Antakshari.

Performed in India as well as USA receiving loud applause from audiences for his
mesmerizing voice quality and outstanding presentation.
===================================================================
NAME
:
Vaidi
ADDRESS
:
Delaware
PHONE NUMBER
:
BASIC PROFILE
:
Male Solo Vocalist
Email
:
==================================================================
 Performed in numerous shows in USA and India
 Has won many accolades in college in music competitions
 Very versatile singer with a terrific range
 Has participated in both Hindi and regional shows.
 Was the Secretary if the BITS Pilani Music club
===================================================================
NAME
:
Raghu
ADDRESS
:
New Jersey
PHONE NUMBER
:
BASIC PROFILE
:
Male Solo Vocalist
Email
:
==================================================================
 Has 15 years of training in Classical Carnatic Music
 Has won many awards in college and national level competitions
 Performed in numerous shows in USA and India
 Has given solo concerts in Classical Music
 Has participated in both Hindi and regional shows.
===================================================================
NAME
:
Mukundan Narasimhan
ADDRESS
:
1257 Ayala Dr #4 ,Sunnyvale,CA-94086
PHONE NUMBER
:
650-625-9052
BASIC PROFILE
:
Keyboardist
EMAIL
:
mux88@yahoo.com
===============================================================
Mukundan (Mux) 's musical sojourn started at the age of 19 when he started playing the
keyboards with the IIT Madras music band in the year 1992.
Mux has won numerous best instrumentalist awards playing for intercollegiate culturals
all over India. Mux is also a member of the popular SFbay area band "Thillana".In Aug
2000, they raised about $18,000 for ASHA-SV and in Jan 2001, they raised about
$12,000 for the Chennai based "Udavum Karangal".
Mux is under going western classical piano training under Dr. Irina Prilipko-Morgan.He
has given numerous piano recitals in the SF bay area.
Apart from playing the keyboards/piano, Mux also composes music. He won the first
prize in the "Composer's Today" competition conducted by the Music Teacher's
Association of California for his composition "Pranava" . He has also composed a part
of the background music for a documentary by the Atlanta-based People TV and the
background music for a Tamil play staged in San Jose.
===================================================================
NAME
:
MANISHA
ADDRESS
:
727 M.L. King Dr. # 712, Cincinnati, OH 45220
PHONE NUMBER
:
(513) 281-6273
BASIC PROFILE
:
Lead Female Vocalist
EMAIL
:
abahri@yahoo.com
Education:
Bachelor of Arts, Classical Vocal Music
M.C.M. D.A.V. College For Women, Chandigarh
Master of Arts, Hindustani Classical Music
SNDT College, Mumbai
Professional
Training/Gurus
Pandit Prem Nath Trikha, Gwaliar Gharana, Chandigarh: I
received training from Pandit Prem Nath Trikha, for ten years in
Hindustani Classical Music.
Kalyan Ji & Anand Ji, Famous Music Director, Mumbai: I received
training from Kalyan Ji Bhai for two and a half years in Light Indian
music and for playback singing, along with Sadhna Sargam and
Sonali Bajpai.
Professional
Appearances:
Honors
Received:

Performed in two professional concert with famous
Music Director Bappi Lahiri, and superstars such as Sridevi
and Akshay Kumar in New Delhi and Ludhiana.

Performed in numerous concerts in Indian Classical Music
in Chandigarh and in Delhi.

Performed in numerous community shows with Kalyan Ji
(of Kalyanji Anandji fame) in Mumbai

Performed in musical concerts with an Indian music group
“Desh” in Cincinnati, Ohio and Columbus, Ohio, including a
professional concert at the Celebration of India’s 50th
Anniversary of Independence in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Received Scholarship from Government of India for 8
yrs training in Indian classical music

Represented college in youth festivals and received
numerous awards and certificates.

Recognized as a B class artist by All India Radio
===================================================================
NAME
:
TIRTHANKAR DAS
ADDRESS
:
15 Middlesex Avenue, NJ 08820
PHONE NUMBER
:
(732) 635-0703
BASIC PROFILE
:
Drummer/Percussionist
EMAIL
:
write3das@hotmail.com
Professional
Training/Gurus
Learnt tabla from Pandit GyanPrakash Ghosh, Calcutta,
Azrada Gharana, for 4 years.
Learnt Tabla from Ramani Parmanik, Calcutta, Azrada Gharana,
for 4 years
Professional
Appearances:

Performed for leading light Indian Music bands with
Kavitha Paudwal, Harini, etc.

Accompanied numerous artists in Indian Classical Music
(both vocals and instrumental) in India and USA.

Performed in numerous music shows for charity (Asha,
AID, etc) in USA.

Performed in Doordarshan and AIR programs.

Performed with Roland V-Drums, Acoustic Drums,
Congas, Thumba, Tabla

Performed as a guest artist for numerous bands in USA
and for Indian artists performing in USA.
===================================================================
NAME:
:
Shyamsunder Vaidanathan
ADDRESS
:
Chicago
PHONE NUMBER
:
847-506-1796
BASIC PROFILE
:
Composer, Sound Engineer, Keyboardist
The Composer:
Shyam's composing career began at B.I.T.S. Pilani with creating original fusion music
compositions. While playing with HIV he came up with some very innovative solos. His
abilities as a composer were enhanced many fold only after he came to the Center for
Computer Music at the University of Cincinnati. At CCM2 he worked with many young
composers of computer music from various countries. His exposure to the varied
cultures that was reflected in the music of his fellow student composers gave him lot of
insight into the delicate art of balancing the music and audio content in any composition.
While in Cincinnati he worked with Bhavanishankar Ranganathan and Manisha Bahri
and created his first album Prathama. This was a compilation of Instrumental pieces,
Hindi, and Tamil Pop numbers.
After moving to Chicago, he worked with Roshan Kamath, a talented Urdu poet, to
create his second album of ghazals titled Humnafas.
After he started playing with Doubleforte, Shyam started exploring his composition skills
in the jazz-fusion area. He has contributed actively to many of his band's own
compositions. He also has been working with Chicago based saxophonist Michael
Fehrer on a project jazz album.
His interest in composing for film and TV lead him to compose many ad jingles. He is
currently working on a movie score with Vishmita Gupta Smith, a director, working with
People's TV, Atlanta .
The Sound Engineer:
In addition to being a talented musician and composer, one of his passions, is sound
engineering. He has a great feel for live performances and delivers awesome mixes,
however demanding a show's lineup maybe or however poor the hall's acoustics.
Shyam has been working as a sound engineer with many Light Indian Music bands in
the USA. He has done sounds for several shows of the following bands.
RASIKA (a band which originated from Atlanta and now has spread all over North
America) :"Ek-Shaam Raksha ke naam" featuring Rasika @ Atlanta, October 1999.
Rasika @ San Francisco, April, 2000
DESH (a band which was based out of Cincinnati, Ohio)
University of Cincinnati, Indian Students Association concert, January 1997.
Celebration of India's 50 Independance Day @ Downtown Convention Center,
Cincinnati,August 1997 (biggest show ever with audience of around 5000 people)
TARANG (a band based out of Minneapolis, MN)
"India Earth Quake Relief Concert" featuring Tarang @ Tedmann Concert Hall,
University of Minnesotta, February, 2001.
Besides these has had the privilege to do sounds for many classical musicians while
they did concerts in Cincinnati.
 Pt. Rajan and Sajan Mishra (Hindustani Vocals) – 1998
 Shri .T.N. Krishnan (Carnatic Violin) – 1998
 Shri. U. Srinivas (Electric Mandolin) – 1998
 Ustad. Zakir Hussain , Fazel Quereshi, Ustad Sultan Khan & Sivamani (Fusion
Concert) -1997
The Keyboardist:
Shyam is a self taught keyboard player. Hence his fingering technique is different from
other keyboard players. His early style of playing was influenced by harmonium players
in the Bhajan groups he was a part of. Later on he started playing songs from classic
rock covers and other music forms at which point he started effectively using both his
hands and learnt to play arpeggios and techniques commonly used in that music form.
However he has to-date not had any continuous spell of formal western or Indian
classical training and hence his style is his own. During his live performances with all the
Indian music bands he plays with he uses the Indian style of playing and during gigs with
his jazz band he plays with other techniques.
Shyam has been playing the keyboards since the late eighties. So some of his first few
shows he used small amateur keyboards like the CASIO MT-100, Yamaha PSR-270,
Yamaha PSR300, Yamaha PSR-560 etc.. Once he started playing with some
professional groups he was introduced to the pro-keyboards like the Korg 01W, Korg
05RW, Roland JUNO etc..
The list of modules he used in his first own album Prathama include Kurweil K2000R,
Alesis QS6, AlesisQSR, Oberheim Matrix2000, E-mu Proteus-1, E-mu Proteus-2,
Roland D-550. Also he was introduced to MIDI operating environments like FreeMIDI
and OMS. He learnt how to built virtual studios using these operating environments. Also
he did some experimentation with new MIDI Controllers hooked up to external
continuous voltage driving sensor circuits. Amongst other things he has worked with
different MIDI patchbays.
After he moved to Chicago, he started setting up his own home-studio. He acquired a
Roland XP-60 which is a great keyboard as well as rich sound module which served as
his main sound source for his second album Humnafas. Currently Shyam plays the
Roland XP-60 for the live shows where performance and sequencing abilities are
required together. He also uses a Roland AX-1 MIDI controller which can be strapped on
like a guitar and gives him the flexibility of a guitarist to move around the stage. Besides
that he uses his Alesis DM-5 for some expressive percussions and rhythm
programming/performance. Recently Shyam built his own MIDI Dafli . He can now play
complex rhythms with his MIDI Dafli and map them to any MIDI patches through his
patch bays and virtual studio mapped through OMS or FreeMIDI.
===================================================================
NAME:
:
Pankaj Sharma
ADDRESS
:
3936 Digby Ct, Apt 15, Richmond, VA 25233
PHONE NUMBER
:
804-747-6526
BASIC PROFILE
:
Acoustic/Electric Guitarist
===================================================================






Have been playing acoustic and electric guitar for more than 10 years.
Learned to play the Trumpet in school as a part of school music band for
about 4 years (1986-1993).
Played guitar for the BITS Pilani Music Club and won many accolades in
competitions.
Joint Rasika in 1998; played in numerous concerts in Atlanta, Charlotte,
Augusta, San Jose, Richmond to name a few of our concert venues over
the last three years. (1998-Current)
Currently learning western guitaring techniques
Also familiar with playing Bass Guitar
===================================================================
NAME:
:
Sundi
ADDRESS
:
Washington DC
PHONE NUMBER
:
703-786-6866
BASIC PROFILE
:
Keyboardist/ Violinist
===================================================================






Have been keyboards and violin for more than 10 years.
Learned to play the Violin through Classical Carnatic Music Classes.
Played keyboards and violin for the BITS Pilani Music Club and won many
accolades in competitions.
Joint Rasika in 1998; played in numerous concerts in Atlanta, Charlotte,
Augusta, San Jose, Minneapolis, Richmond to name a few of our concert venues
over the last three years. (1998-Current)
Had composed fusion pieces.
Has also played in many music shows in India
===================================================================
NAME:
:
Karthik
ADDRESS
:
Washington DC
PHONE NUMBER
:
BASIC PROFILE
:
Guitarist
===================================================================
Usually located around the center of the stage, Kartik is the guitar player in the band with
an interesting musical background. Having studied Hindustani classical vocal music for 6
years to obtain a Bachelor's Degree in Music from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad,
Kartik has participated in various music competitions while in India. He also took the first
place in an All India Music competition in the Light Classical Vocals category organized
by the same school mentioned above. Starting at a very early age, Kartik gave his first
public performance at the age of 6 and then went on to give a number of vocal
performances all over India, along with his sister, a singer herself and his brother on the
tabla. Kartik has been referred to as ‘Junior Anup Jalota’ in his hometown of
Jamshedpur, India, where he grew up because of his ability to replicate Anup Jalota’s
songs to perfection. Bhajans and Ghazals being his forte, Kartik, while in school,
clinched the trophy for the ‘Most Talented Musician’ for a record consecutive four years
in addition to the first place in the Annual Talent Contest organized by the Catholic
Association of Jamshedpur. He was also featured on Bangalore Doordarshan in 1987.
When he moved to college, IT-BHU, he took particular interest in the guitar and started
learning to play it. Practically self-taught, he formed his own 'ROCK' band in college
called 'AZTECHS' which performed in numerous shows in and around Varanasi and
participated in Inter College Rock-Competitions. Fed on a regular dose of Classic Rock,
with influences ranging from the Beatles right up to more contemporary bands like Pearl
Jam, Kartik explored different kinds of music along with his band before landing in the
US. The newest member of Rasika, Kartik plays a key role in the band by handling the
guitar playing, the 'figuring out' of songs and creating chord sheets etc. As someone
rightly said, 'Music knows no language barriers' and Kartik has proven every word of it
true.
===================================================================
NAME:
:
Sapna
ADDRESS
:
Washington DC
PHONE NUMBER
:
BASIC PROFILE
:
Lead Female Vocals
===================================================================
Sapna is, should we say, the better half, of Kartik and is a very talented young singer.
Having been trained for a short period of time in Carnatic classical music, Sapna was
very popular in the cultural circles in her native city of Coimbatore. Sapna is blessed with
a melodious voice, which brings the most intricate ‘nuances’ in a song to its ultimate
glory with uncommon ease. Having come to the US after her marriage to Kartik, Sapna
has been singing in numerous events in and around Washington, DC where she lives.
Recently, she joined the ‘wonderful world of RASIKA’ and has been a key member of the
band since. Rumor has it that her rendition of ‘Kannalane’ (from the film Bombay) was
what initiated the connection between her and Kartik and further led to their marriage.
OTHER ARTISTS WHOSE BIO-DATE IS NOT AVAILABLE BUT PLAY
REGULARLY FOR RASIKA ARE:
Kiran Joglekar – Dholak
Jaywant – Dholak
Karthik: Octapad