Bio

Aishwarya Vidhya Raghunath, popularly known as AVR is a Carnatic Vocalist from Bengaluru. Her music is a deep meditation in the art of Carnatic Music and every concert of hers is an experience worth remembering.

An A-graded artiste of All India Radio and Doordarshan, Aishwarya VR has the honour of being the disciple of musical stalwarts – Sangita Kalacharya (Late) Smt Seethalakshmi Venkatesan, Padma Bhushan (Late) Shri PS Narayanaswamy, Sangeetha Kala Sagaram Smt. Vegavahini Vijayaraghavan, and Vidwan Shri RK Shriramkumar thus being moulded into the Semmangudi bani and the Veena Dhanammal bani. She began learning music at the age of 3 and her first solo public performance was at the age of 13.

She is a highly awarded artiste; having received the prestigious “Outstanding Lady Vocalist” Award from Madras Music Academy for three consecutive years. She is also the recipient of important awards like the Kalki Krishnamurthy Award, M.S. Subbulakshmi Award, Yuva Purandara, D.K. Pattammal Award, Raga Laya Prabha, and the prestigious Govt. of India Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture.

Academically, Aishwarya is a Biotech Engineer and worked for a while as an executive at Biocon. She is now a full-time musician and lives with her husband and puppies in Bengaluru.

Bio

Dr. Radhika Joshi is an accomplished artist in the field of Hindustani classical music, hailing from the prestigious Jaipur Atrauli Gharana. Under the guidance of Pt. Raghunandan Panshikar, a disciple of the legendary Gaansaraswati Kishori Amonkar, Radhika has diligently honed her vocal prowess. Her musical journey also led her to explore semi-classical forms such as Thurmi, Kajri, Hori, and Dadra, under the esteemed Padmabhushan Smt. Girija Devi at the Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata.

In recent years, Radhika has graced numerous prestigious music festivals both in India and abroad, including notable venues such as Ustad Abdul Karim Khan Smriti Samiti, Deval Club, and the Dadar Matunga Cultural Center. Her melodious voice has resonated at Sangit Kala Mandir, Gayan Sabha, Sangeet Sankalp – Saptak, Pt. Bundi Maharaj Charitable Society, and several more.

Radhika’s dedication to her craft has not gone unnoticed, as she is a recipient of the National Scholarship for Performing Arts from the Government of India and holds a coveted position as a graded artist of All-India Radio. Notably, as part of the G20 celebrations, All India Radio invited her to perform a special concert of semi-classical music at Akashvani and Doordarshan.

Radhika is not only a performer but also a passionate educator and advocate for preserving the rich tradition of Hindustani music. Her commitment to introducing the basics of Indian classical music to children resulted in her authorship of the book “Phulwari Geeton Ki,” now adopted as a music curriculum in several Pune schools. Furthermore, Radhika is the visionary founder of Jaipur Gunijankhana, an archive in Pune dedicated to the documentation and preservation of Hindustani music, with a particular focus on the Jaipur Atrauli Gharana. Her dedication to this mission earned her the Museum and Research Fellowship from the India Foundation for the Arts in Bangalore.

In addition to her musical achievements, Radhika holds a master’s in economics from Tufts University, Boston, and a PhD in Economics from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. Her decision to pursue a full-time career in music demonstrates her unwavering commitment to her art and its profound cultural significance.

Bio

Kavish Seth is an independent singer, songwriter, and poet who writes and composes primarily in Hindustani. He invented and patented an instrument ‘Noori’ – an evolution from guitar, rabab, oud and sarod. He has performed across 72 cities, villages, and towns in India and twice overseas – in Moscow and Tel Aviv, Israel.

His musical project is named Zubaan; where independent artists from different musical and linguistic backgrounds come together, collaborate and perform across the mainland. More info on Zubaan can be found here at The Better India: Story of Zubaan.

He was recently awarded as the Most talented upcoming musician by Piyush Goyal, Devendra Fadnavis in NavBharat Times award ceremony.

Bio

Dr. Purushothama Bilimale has served for many years as Professor of Kannada at the Kannada University, Hampi, and then as a Director at the American Institute of Indian Studies, New Delhi. He established the Kannada Language Chair, Centre of Indian Languages, JNU and served as its first Professor.

Prof. Bilimale is a teacher, organizer, writer, and columnist, who helped students and researchers for over forty years.  He has had extensive experience in the area of Indian Language, Literature and culture. A long-time student of Yakshagana (a South Indian folk performing art), he has learned and performed Yakshagana for the last 30 years.

He has 28 books to his credit. His autobiography, ‘Kage muttida neeru’ (Crow-Touched Water) has received the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award.

Bio

Aušra Kiudulaitė was born in 1978 in Vilnius, Lithuania. She has a master degree from Vilnius Academy of Arts (VAA) and is now working as a freelance illustrator and runs creative workshops for children as well as students and art professionals. Aušra actively participates in international exhibitions. festivals and book fairs.

In 2016 her first picture book Happiness is a Fox was published which became a national phenomenon and also gained international attention when it was published by Thames and Hudson in the UK. The book received many awards including The Best Book of the Year Award in 2017 in Lithuania, The Most Beautiful Book of the Year by LBBY in 2016.

Aušra has been selected for the LBBY Honour list in 2018 and 2023.