SAMUR III 2019 Participants
Hailing from Bangladesh, Kriti is a versatile singer who specialises in songs by Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam and is not shy to present them with a twist.
Nishad Pandey is a professional guitarist, composer and teacher who was born in India, but has spent extended periods of time living in Japan, UK, USA, and Australia. Between 2011-17, Nishad was based in Kolkata, studying Hindustani classical music composing original music and performing widely. In Melbourne, he completed a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance at Monash University. Nishad is now based in Berlin, frequently collaborating with leading musicians.
Recently performed at the Cannes film festival 2019, Tritha is a vocalist, composer and a music producer based out of India and Europe. Trained in Indian classical music from the age of five in Khayal and Dhrupad, she has broken barriers with her skills as an improviser of contemporary expression. 8 albums to her credit, she has represented India in over 17 countries as a socially engaged musician. Over the years, her work has been highlighted by the BBC, Tehelka, Marie Claire, ARTE and Canal Plus. She was also featured by Magnum Photo Agency in their global exhibition “Women Changing India”. In the last decade, she founded Indo-french psychedelic rock band Tritha Electric and SPACE, a performing arts collective engaged in gender equality and social justice using music.
Harini is a Carnatic fusion singer from Chennai. She focuses on traditional and improvisational music seasoned with contemporary influences. Her interests range from Carnatic, Jazz, Latin American music to RnB and NeoSoul. She aims to bring the emotional core of each of these genres to fresh audiences.
Shayekh Mohammad Arif
Shayekh is a Bangladeshi based contemporary music composer, sound artist and live performer. He is also a sound collector-he collects ethnic-urban-nature sounds from different sources and ensemble these together into soundscapes. Currently he is working with UK based art & cultural research group named Soul city arts. He is also a R&D artist of 'Transforming narratives' by Arts council England
Milan Ghimire
Milan was born in 1996 in the spiritual land of Nepal in the Himalayas.His interest in the traditional bamboo flute grew in his early teen years, watching his brother, Kiran Baral, play the flute fluidly . At the age of 16, After learning with his brother for a couple of years, he started taking advanced classes at Kirateshwor Sangeet Ashram under Guru Nagendra Bikram Rai. Milan also had the privilege to receive eastern musical training from Guru Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia
Julia Brüssel
Born in Cologne in Germany. Studied Jazzviolin at the music College in Cologne. Plays in different fields of music like free improvisation, jazz and world ,electronic and experimental music.
Mandola Joy
Mandola Joy, an exponent of Maihar Gharana, is an artist of international acclaim in the field of Hindustani Classical and World Fusion Music. After a long 20 years of experiments, Mandola Joy successfully redefined Mandola into “Shree-Taar”. “Shree-Taar” is an electric fretless improvised Mandola having “chikari” (sympathetic strings) and the fingerboard covered with brass plate, which is more appropriate for rendering Indian music, especially Indian classical music. His Gurus (teachers) include: late Pandit V.G.Jog (Violin maestro), late Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta (Sarod Maestro), now I'm taking taalim from under guru Pandit Partha Chatterjee (Sitar maestro)
Dr James Bunch (Jimmy)
Jimmy is a composer, music educator, and violinist / pianist / whatever-ist based in Chennai, India. His music has been performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. He teaches composition and theory at KM Music Conservatory, where he also directs the contemporary music collective Hundredfoot Road. In addition to performing works by KM students, they've given the Indian premieres of music by Glass, Messiaen, Cage, Eastman, and many others. Jimmy has attended residencies and workshops throughout the US and Canada. And as for the obligatory ending of the modern new music bio: he has a cat named Tyra Banksy.
Ramesh Shotham
Born in South India percussionist Ramesh has been a rocker, jazzer and classical Indian musician. Today he is all of that simultaneously. Living currently in Cologne Germany, Ramesh has recorded and worked on over 300 productions including film music, with various bands and theatre. Ramesh is a co-director of SAMUR III 2019.
Roger Hanschel
Roger is a German Composer and a Saxophone Player. He is a co-director of SAMUR III 2019.
Hari Saran Gurang
Hari is based out of Nepal and is a classical Guitarist.
Vinayak Netke
