Ben Kunin is one of today's most accomplished Sarode players in Bay Area. He started learning his instrument, Sarod, with over 20 years at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, CA under the guidance of legendary Maestro Ali Akbar Khan. He studied tabla with Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri since 1987.
Ben Kunin's Acoustic Adventures CD was released the week of January 28th, 2002.
Ben patiently mentors students of Sarod and Hindustani, at Ali Akbar College of Music. In addition to being a master student of Hindustani music theory and Sarod-playing, Kunin is also an incredible classical guitarist who can stand the hairs on your arms and neck on end and slip time out of its more linear patterns. With an acoustic nylon-stringed guitar, he can blow you away with some of the most inspired guitar-playing since John Fahey, Terry Riley or the Sun City Girls. Anyone who has felt the joy in the playing of Fahey, Robbie Basho or other noted folkische fingerpickers will need to rush to their CD player and pop this jewel in. The nine tracks on Acoustic Adventures beautifully demonstrate the disciplines one learns in both Indian and Western classical theory, while also displaying the transcendant freedom that all great musicians channel in their own unique ways. The music is closest to the Takoma-era players, but with its own special approach to the "great tradition."
He has also released four CDs, including "Point of Departure" in 2005.You can buy Ben Kunin's Acoustic Adventures CD at Midheaven Mailorder.

Manidipa was born into a musical family with a long tradition of classical music. She received her initial training at home from her mother in Indian classical music. She was awarded a distinction from "Surangama" and later received a diploma in Rabindrasangeet.She underwent many years of rigorous training under the guidance of Sri Subinoy Roy and Smt. Maya Sen. She also received diploma in Indian Classical music. She was fortunate to get a chance to learn classical music from Ustad Ali Akhbar Khan at San Rafael for a while. She is a Chemical Engineer and by profession she works in software field at Bay Area.
Manidipa had been performing Rabindrasangeet for The All India Radio, Calcutta, Doordarshan Kendra, Calcutta. She was also a featured performer on Radio and Television shows across North America.
Sound Wing of Calcutta, released her first Rabindrasangeet audio cassette entitled "Amritero Sagare” under the supervision of Sri Subinoy Roy. She performed across USA, including Banga Sanmelan at Los Angeles and Rabindra Mela at New Jersey.                                                       Manidipa also performed different programs in Calcutta. Critics, which inludes The Telegraph, The Statesman, Anandabazar Patrika, Bartaman and Desh, appreciated her Rabindrasangeet performance.              Manidipa received Plaque of Honor from Maryland University, USA for Rabindra Sangeet. She received a prestigious Uttamkumar Award for Rabindra Sangeet. She has also excelled in Semi-Classical and Modern Hindi and Bengali Songs. Her Latest CD was released last year along with other renowned Bengali singers at Calcutta, like Indrani Sen, Protik Choudhury, Rupankar. Her song ‘Mone pore Jaye’ was appreciated by several musicians in Calcutta.

Introduced to Rabindrasangeet by his mother-Amita Das, one of the preeminent disciples of Shri Niharbindu Sen and Shrimati Gita Sen of “Gitabitan” in Kolkata. Obtained an initial introduction to Sarod from his father-Shri Pradip Das, a disciple of Ustad Bahadur Khan. Aditya studied Rabindrasangeet at “Prangan” (Mumbai), for 15 years under the guidance of Shrimati Shukla Mitra. He also received training from Smt Gita Sen. Tenor with the Madrigal Singers of Clarksburg led by Don Gardner (Western Classical Chorale and Medieval Hymns). Currently, he is learning Hindustani Classical Vocal music from Smt. Lakshmi Shankar (Patiala Gharana). Aditya has performed in several programs and concerts in India and in the United States.
Notable performances include: House of Soviet Culture (Mumbai); Renaissance Invitational Festival (Annapolis, MD); California Center for the Arts (Escondido)-accompanied Pandit Ravi Shankar on the occasion of India’s 50th Independence Day Anniversary Celebrations in a vocal presentation of “Sare Jahan Se Accha” and NABC ’99 (Santa Clara).

Student of Hindustani Classical Vocal music for over two decades as a disciple of Pandit Judhisthir Nath (Rampur Gharana). Currently she is a disciple of Shrimati Lakshmi Shankar (Patiala Gharana). She has performed in several Rabindrasangeet programs in all over California. Her interest and further development in Rabindrasangeet took place when her father Sabyasachi Bhattacharya was the Vice-Chancellor of Vishwa Bharati University in Shantiniketan (1990-94). Notable performances include California Center for the Arts (Escondido)-accompanied Pandit Ravi Shankar on the occasion of India’s 50th Independence Day Anniversary Celebrations in a vocal presentation of “Sare Jahan Se Accha” and NABC ’99 (Santa Clara).

Prasenjit Biswas is a well known name in the SF Bay Area musical events. Besides having a successful career in Semiconductor Industry as a Microprocessor Architect, he loves to work with music. Prasenjit received his formal music training during his teenage years from Sabyasachi Ghosh of Shantiniketan. He also learnt music from his uncle Pranab Mitra. During his undergraduate Engineering days, he used to sing contemporary and modern Bengali songs in People’s theatre in Calcutta. His avid listening of all kinds of music and ken interest in music have made him a self taught singer. His most inspiration came from famous Hemanta Mukhejee. He had been performimg regularly in various musical events across USA over the last 25 years. He also has CDs/Cassettes of Adhunik and Rabindrasangeet released in the market.
 

Shyamoshree was born in Calcutta Brahmo family of many famous Rabindrasangeet singers. Her academics in music is quite sound. She has received First Class First Diploma from Dakshinee Calcutta. She performed Rabindra Sangeet in Akashbaani Calcutta. Her singing performance in Rabindrasadan, Kalamandir has acclaimed praises.She was also performed in Natya Mandir, Bombay in many occations.

Sky aka Sabyasachi Basu, a ‘Kolkattayia’ by birth and upbringing, throughout his adult life helped to entertain the communities by dramatics, music, debates, elocution – both on and off stage. Between such performances at his spare time he practices founding companies and making them successful both in India and USA. A singer taught strictly in the Gharana of All India Radio and HMV and honed his skill during his days at IIT, Kharagpur, his theoretical knowledge about Bengali music of all genre is sometimes more visible than his practical demonstrations. Someday he dreams to have the single largest collection of Bengali songs of all genres.

Sonali began learning her first notes at the age of five in the lap of Ila Banerjee , disciple of Late Naina Devi. She later received training under Sanjoy Sarkar , a leading exponent of Rabindra Sangeet in Delhi. Sonali was a regular artist for All India Radio. Her talent was recognized when she was selected to sing on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of “Dakshini’ held in Kalamandir, Calcutta in July 1998. Sonali’s Rabindra Sangeet rendition was praised in local media and she was selected to sing in Shanti Niketan. Her performance in Shanti Niketan was widely acclaimed by pundits of Rabindra Sangeet including the vice chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University.
Sonali is a versatile artist and performs regularly in Bay Area musical shows and ranging from Indian classical songs to Hindi film songs on Karaoke . She has directed the production of ‘Mohalaya’ for Durga Puja , which has received rave reviews.
She has been applauded for her lead singing roles in numerous Tagore dance dramas and Bengali musicals.
 

Highly accomplished and successful entrepreneur Jay Roy finds pleasure in Music. Besides working on his second startup company in Electronic Design Automation, he tries to find time to practice music. His liking on music started at a very early age from his mother. He would hear her mother sing while cooking and hum along with her. He would listen to music on record player his parents got as their wedding present. After completing BTech degree in Electronics from IIT Kharagpur, he earned PhD. in Computer Engineering from Cincinnati. He has been performing in Bay area for several years. He likes to perform songs of famous singer from India, Kishore Kumar. As, he says, ‘I could not have been more than 3 or 4 years old when I sang Kishore Kumar’s famous song - "ek poloker, ektu dekha .... I guess my love for Kishore Kumar started then ...”. He took formal music lesson on Indian Classical Music from Sweta Jhaveri. Currently, he is learning Hindustani Classical Vocal music from Shubhangi Shakalkar.

Malini did not receive any formal training but always had a love for music as a hobby. Like all Bengali families she received training in Indian classical music when she was in school which later was overtaken by academic priorities. She represented her college in both zonal and national youth festivals for Indian classical and western songs for three consecutive years. She passed through the rigorous audition process for Zee TV’s Close-Up Antakshari and represented her College at the Inter-Collegiate competition in 1997 and became a semifinalist. She got a fresh start to showcase her talent in the Bay-Area after she relocated from Europe in 2004, when she again got a platform to show her singing talent at NRI antakshari held in Sunnyvale Hindu Temple in 2005 and Saraswati Puja in 2006 organized by Prabasi.

Julie Basu a MS and PhD degree holder from Stanford University, was inspired in music from her father, who was a very good singer. She started learning Hindustani classical and Rabindra sangeet when she was 11 years old. Learnt classical music for few years from Pandit Laxmi Ganesh Tiwari in the Bay Area. Besides being a computer scientist by profession, she continued learning different kinds of Indian music from various gurus across bay area. She has performed in many programs. Her performance in Gunjan’s presentation ‘Kajri’ was highly praised. She loves different folk musics in particular.

Nilanjan Sarkar, a software professional in Bay Area, was influenced by regular music practice of his father, who was a disciple of Pt Gyan Ghosh. He grew up with the songs of famous Indian singer Kishore Kumar and he was his Idol. He was also known as Junior Kishore in his high school. He started performing when he was in College.
His formal music training in Indian classical music was started in the Bayarea from Sukhawat Ali Khan, famous sufi singer from Pakistan. He has been regularly performing in ay area for several years, like the Prabasi organization's Mahisasura Mardini (Mohalaya), RabindraSandhya at Stanford , ICC Swarscape.He is also a active participant in a local music band called HaranoSur.

Brinda Govindan has been playing the flute since age 7. She has played in wind ensembles, symphonic bands, marching and pep bands throughout high school and college. After studying Western classical music on flute and piano, she was introduced to playing Bengali music while pursuing her PhD in cell biology at Yale University. In 1992, she accompanied singers in a Rabindrasangeet program in New Haven. Since 1996 she has been an accompanist to vocalists in the Bengali community of the Bay Area. Some of her performances include Mahalaya, Rabindrasandhya, a folk-music fundraiser, and various dance-dramas. Most recently she has been performing with the local
bangla band "Saampan". She also enjoys jamming with former members of the band "Mohiner ghoraguli" and is always eager to expand her repertoire.

Sudip Nag is a very well known performer across Bay Area. He has been performing around 20 years in India as well as in USA. Being a senior director at Xilinx Inc., he balances well, his singing career along with his software activities. Though he never learnt music formally but he is passionate about music. He has perfomed in Prabashi’s production Mahishasura Mardini, Sanskriti’s production ‘Shyama’, Chandalika which made him the most popular male voice in Bay Area.

Pradosh is an avid listener of all kinds of Indian music – be it classical, folk, or instrumental. But Tabla, is one of his passions. He started playing Tabla at his childhood age under the tutelage of his father, Shri Paresh C. Sarkar, and continued for 8 years. In those days, at times, he even used to think of leaving this instrument for a more interesting hobby – sketching. But he did not dare do so as his teacher was at his side almost always. Since then, where ever he stayed for studies or for work - Kanpur, Hyderabad, California, he continued taking lessons along with performing and accompanying. His recent Guru is Shri Uttam Chakraborty. He was a member of Kanpur Music Circle and a regular accompanyist there during early ‘90s. He performed in ‘Andhra Pradesh Sham-E-Ghazal’ in Hyderabad, organized by Department of Cultural Affairs, Andhra Pradesh Govt, in 1996. Pradosh has been regularly accompanying light classical artists in and around Bay Area. He accompanied several visiting artists from Kolkata such as ‘Baul Samrat’ Purna Das Baul, Alok RoyChaudhuri, and Rabindra Sangeet artist Jayoshree Dashgupta. Apart from tabla accompaniment, he takes immense interest in Bengali Drama.

Being a master's degree holder in Computer Science from Regional Engg. College, Rourkela, Subhas Khashnobish is also holding a Masters degree in Music from Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Pune in Instrumental (Hawaiin Guitar) Classical Music. His professional work in Software Industry did not stop his music career in USA. He has been performing as well as teaching Hawaiin Guitar/Vocal for last 20 years in Bay Area. He is a B-High Grade Approved Artist in Instrumental Classical Music from All India Radio, Cuttack.He also performed in AIR, Cuttack and Doordarshan, Bhubaneswar.
His own music composing and production is his first Bengali Puja Album 'Ebarey Bandhbo Gaan Aktaaraay' sang by renowned singer Babul Supriyo in 1995, released by Pan Music Company, Mumbai.

Shirshanka graduated from UCLA in 2005 with a PhD in Computer Science. He now works at PayPal as an application architect. Shirshanka was introduced to music at a very young age in India, inspired by his mother. He continued learning music for several years, Rabindra Sangeeet, Hindustani Classical and Nazrul Geeti, initially under the guidance of Shrimati Namita Pal and later under the tutelage of Shri Ujjal Nandi. He has performed in various college-level programs in India. His recent vocal performance in the dance drama Shyama was praised by everybody.

Shailaja graduated from UCSC in 2004 with a Masters in Computer Science. She now works as a CAD/Software Engineer at Intel. Her love for music started at a very young age when as a child she was exposed to many genres of music at home. Her childhood in Calcutta was a influential factor is nurturing her interest in Bengali music. Shailaja is mostly a self-taught singer, though she did take formal training in music for 2 years under Mrs. Ekta Roy. She recently performed at the medley performance at Intel India Day.
 

Indrani has grown up in a family of musicians, her father being a reputed composer and vocal artist, Adhir Bagchi and grandfather Late Anil Bagchi, one of the renowned music directors from Bengal.
In addition to training from her father she has undergone formal Hindusthani classical training from Ustad Jamini Ganguly from the age of 10.She has also received Hinduathani classical training from classical music maestros, Smt.Uma De and Dr. Usha Ranjan Mukherjee.
She has been a regular artist of Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrulgeeti and Adhunik songs (modern Bengali) for All India Radio and Doordarshan (Kolkata) .She has performed in many significant live performances in Bengal from her childhood and has won several awards as the best performer.
Indrani has performed in several significant live musical concerts of Rabindrasangeet, classical, semi classical and film songs in India as well as in the Bay area.
Her mother Ruby Bagchi (ex asst. Station Director of All India Radio Kolkata and lyricist) is the prime inspiration behind her interest in Tagore’s songs..