Thursday evening concert
Sanju Sahai
Sanju Sahai is currently one of the finest Tabla artists. A phenomenal Tabla Player well known for mesmerizing and captivating his audience with his virtuosity and complete spontaneity. Sanju is an international artist and continues to perform all over the UK, India, Europe, Middle East, USA, Australasia and the far East. He has accompanied many of India's legendary musicians and dancers. Sanju has had the honour and privilege to perform for Her Majesty The Queen on several occasions as well as performing for a private concert at the Highgrove for King Charles.
He continues to collaborate with flamenco, jazz, African and other genres of music and dance. As well as performing and touring all over the world Sanju is also very active promoting music through running residencies and workshops and teaching to all age groups. Sanju has been performing throughout India for more than 3 decades some of the major festivals such as Harvallabh Sangeet Samaroh, Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh and Saptak.
He is also been touring with Anoushka Shankar performing to music written by Pandit Ravi Shankar Ji and Philip Glass and also for the silent film score Shiraz composed by Anoushka Shankar.
Sanju has also had the privilege to perform at the prestigious BBC Proms on 3 separate occasions accompanying Pandit Rajan Sajan Misra Ji, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Saheb and Anoushka Shankar.
Sanju has been residing in the UK for over 3 decades continuing to teach and inspire Tabla lovers and musicians.
Jaymini Sahai
Jaymini Sahai is a Kathak artist based in the UK. Passionate about performing and teaching dance as well as creating new innovative dance projects, Jaymini is one of the most exciting artists to emerge from the new generation of UK based South Asian dance artists. Beginning her Kathak training in the UK in 1983 under the guidance of Nilima Devi Ji, Jaymini gained her diploma in Kathak in 1995 and since then she has been performing nationally and internationally in both professional productions and community events. She regularly conducts school and community related dance work.
Jaymini has taken further training in Kathak with Padamshree Guru Pratap Pawar Ji and most recently is under the guidance of the beautifully graceful Vidushi Mamta Maharaj Ji, daughter of none other than the world renowned Pandit Birju Maharaj Ji.
Debipriya Sircar
Sitarist and vocalist Debipriya Sircar (née Das) began learning music at the age of 4 from her mother and her early gurus were the late Pandit Manesh Chandra Kansara (sitar) and the late Sri Golak Mohan Choudhury (vocal). Since 2003, Debipriya has been a disciple of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, one of the finest exponents of North Indian Classical Vocal music and has received vocal training at workshops conducted in the UK. Based in Stratford (East London) Debipriya combines her music with a full-time job as a Flow Cytometrist at The Francis Crick Institute in London.
Kirpal Singh Panesar
Kirpal Singh Panesar is one of the brightest talents to have emerged in the UK. He is regarded amongst the leading Tar-Shehnai & Dilruba performers of today.
Kirpal began his learning of Tar Shehnai and Dilruba with Ustad Surjeet Singh (disciple of Pt Ram Narayan) in 1994. He also receives tutelage from Ustad Gurdev Singh Ji (disciple of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan). Kirpal's remarkable musical ability was immediately recognised and by the grace of Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji, he had the great honour of becoming a disciple of the late legend, Ustad Bismillah Khan.
Kirpal has been performing since a young age at prestigious venues in the UK and around the world. As well as being a performing artist, Kirpal dedicates his time teaching students of all levels and age groups.
Pandit Vishwa Prakash
Pandit Vishwa Prakash was born into a family of North Indian Classical musicians from Jaipur Gharana. He learnt music from his father Pandit Mahadev Prasad ji and then later from his brothers Pandit Madan Prakash, Pandit Panna Lal ji, Pandit Mahavir Prasad and Pandit Sudarshan Devi. All of them were known Classical Singers, Gurus and Composers. He has had the honour to compose music and provide lyrics for renowned Kathak Queen Sitara Devi of Banaras Gharana and Roshan Kumari of Jaipur Gharana.
Friday evening concert
Leo Day + Friends
Born and raised in India to parents from diverse and different backgrounds, Leo Day comes from a unique blend of musical traditions and cultures. His father is an accomplished Bengali Folk singer in the lineage of traditional Indian heritage. His mother's origins are from Native American tribes and Colombian roots in Latin music. Growing up in a truly versatile artistic family, Leo has been a gifted musician from the very start. He began his formal training in Indian Classical Music at a young age. His singing has been described by his teachers as having the "causeless mercy of Mother Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge". Leo Day has performed numerous concerts all around the world and continues to share his heartfelt melodies. As a well-established, internationally recognised vocalist, he now dedicates his life to music whilst teaching and training his students in this artform through his academy "Swar Yoga".
Saturday Evening Concert
Shammi Pithia and Band
Having charted no.1 in the iTunes World Music chart with his second album COSMIC, Shammi Pithia is building a solid name for himself as a creative composer and producer and has been performing around the world for the past 5 years.
Making music that is emotionally expressive and layered with narrative, Shammi has attracted the attention of some of the leading artists in his field and has also become a sought after collaborator.
Having previously been commissioned by the Spanish National Dance Company, Shammi recently collaborated with dancer Vidya Patel to create a piece that he and Vidya then went onto perform at the live final of BBC Young Dancer Of The Year 2015 (BBC2) which reached an audience of over a million in the UK alone.
He most recently collaborated with the Sujata Banerjee Dance Company to create a Kathak piece based on the theme of global warming and recycling. After an intensive week of writing and rehearsing they went on to perform in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata in honor of Pt Birju Maharaj.
Shammi has performed across the UK and Europe and has also performed in the U.S.A and India. One of his biggest performances was last year along with Sonna Rele and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra where they performed his work at the ‘UK Welcomes Modi’ event held at Wembley Stadium to a 60,000 strong audience and broadcast to 100 million viewers.
Sunday Morning
Nikki Slade + Kirtan Band
Nikki Slade is a leading pioneer in the field of chanting, core voice and sound work in the UK for over 30 yrs. Nikki has inspired thousands of individuals to chant and has led chanting and voice workshops in a wide variety of settings. She has been resident Kirtan leader at triyoga London for 20 years and has also taken her cutting-edge approach to working with the voice into Wandsworth men’s prison. She was the resident voice and sound facilitator at the Priory hospital in North London for 20 years where she has, through her work, supported the recovery of people on the addiction treatment programme.
For the past 7 years she has been facilitating chanting and voice workshops at the half- way recovery house Start 2 Stop in central London. Nikki has worked extensively, privately with sound and voice work for leaders in their fields including Business leaders, Therapists, Yoga teachers, School teachers, writers and Performing artists.
Nikki has released 4 successful mantra and chanting recordings including: Nectarine, Monsoon, Soundscape and the double album Epiphany. She is also author of her popular book ‘The Healing Power of Chanting’. In recent years she has pioneered Kirtan in the mainstream areas of Glastonbury Festival and Latitude Festival. She has travelled the world with her work to places including California, Singapore, NYC, Europe, Mexico City, Brussels and Melbourne. On 11.11.11 at Mind, Body, Spirit show she led a chant for the opening ceremony for over 2000 people and once again at the 12.12.12 Oneness ceremony at the London Hilton.
Nikki is the founder of the first in the UK 200hr Learn To Lead Kirtan Foundation Training, accredited by The Yoga Alliance Professionals in 2016. She completed leading the 5th training, after a 2 year gap, in November 2022.
Sunday closing concert
Gaiea Sanskrit
Gaiea learned Sanskrit from the age of four in London; she went on to study it at university alongside music. She continues her studies of both music and Sanskrit in India. She knows that the power of sound goes beyond borders, beyond boundaries, and is completely universal and that's why she will continue to sing and compose as long as there are breaths in the body!.
