Paint Music on A Canvas To Release Silence
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Welcome
Me.....
My passion for music dates back to the early days of my youth. I was born in Manchester, England and grew up in London and Scotland. At the early age of 5, I can remember my Father playing music from the Golden Era. This was one of my fondest memories ever. My whole family loved music, but my younger brother and I really developed the passion.
Today.....
Today I live in greater Chicago area and continue to cherish my passion for music. My instrument of choice is the Bansuri, the Indian Flute. The Bansuri is not just a hobby, this is one of the areas that I focused my education.
Sangeet Visharad Indian Classical Music
In August 2019, my studies as a disciple under the guidance of Flute Maestro SNA Awardee Pandit Ronu Majumdar. Future performances can be found in the upcoming events section of my website. I will be featured at open mic sessions, concerts, and joint and solo local performances in the Greater Chicago area. I am also available for private lessons.
My other passion is expressing my work as an abstract artist. Additional hobbies include art, music, painting, and wood working.
Video
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Highlights
Raag Yaman
Coming Soon - Raag Megh Malhar
Events
- Sun, Oct 2714630 Lemont Rd
- Sat, Sep 21Lake Zurich
- Sat, Sep 14Wentz Concert Hall/Fine Arts CenterIn collaboration with Consulate General of India. Come cheer me on at this auspicious event. Guests of Honor, Shri Sudhakar Dalela (Consulate General of India) and Steve Chirico (Mayor of Naperville).
TESTIMONIALS
While we had not been to a Visharad before, it significantly exceeded our expectations! Everything about the day and performance was exceptional.
Your dedication, attention to detail, and passion for the music was evident in everything that you did and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves watching you excel with every piece that you played. It was very entertaining and we were in awe of watching you handle every detail to perfection.
Your drive and desire are contagious and you are a great example for others to follow their dreams and to never give up.
Congrats on your graduation and another significant accomplishment!
Rob & Susi - Scentcerely Yours
You displayed grace, modesty, confidence, passion and enjoyment throughout his Visharad performance on 8/4/2019. His dedication was apparent to us and we could see that he had spent a great deal of time practicing and preparing. It was a great honor for my wife and I to share this experience among his friends and family, while showing support to our friend, Shashi.
Paul & Kate Coapman
Congratulations again. Your performance was amazing for me to listen to as someone that’s grown up surround by sounds nothing like what I heard that day! It was majestical in a sense. I loved the perfection of timing you had down, as well as the cohesion between you and your supporting musicians. I hope you continue performing because I really enjoyed it, and I am sure others did as well! In addition, the setting fit perfectly with the tone you were creating with every Raag. The cloudy skies when you were performing with Ketan Bhai was phenomenal, it all just fit and flowed so well. All the best!
Kishan
Thank you so much for allowing me to participate in such a beautiful ceremony and concert! Congratulations again! The whole audience, including me, were blown away by the beauty, serenity and musicality of your music. Please continue to share your music and talent with the world
Dr Golbin D.O. ENT
This was amazing. I am glad I was able to be a part of your big day. I couldn’t feel more proud to call you my Jiju. You are amazing. Your performance was just AWESOME. You are someone I look up to, that gives me motivation to keep doing what I am doing in life and never give up. No matter how much I want to give up, you always tell me be strong and keep doing you. YOU KILLED IT.
Preeti
Thank you again for inviting us to your graduation! This was both Carrie and I's first attendance to a Visharad, and we were pleasantly surprised! We truly enjoyed the range of sounds and the beauty of the music. The entire performance was very impressive, and your talents were highly noticeable. We were appreciative of the chance to take part in this special occasion with you!
Steve & Carrie Kolb
I am beyond thrilled to share my review of the Visharad!
AMBIANCE/DECOR: The natural elements throughout the stage helped to create a calming and peaceful setting for attendees. The various sized logs with tall cylinder vases of staggering heights filled with candles was a beautiful touch in the foreground. While those elements were calming, the bright pinks, reds, oranges, and yellows of the floral arrangements in the background created some excitement!
MOOD/MUSIC: The feelings each raga emoted changed throughout your performance, just as you said they would in the program, which made the "calming" and "exciting" decor the perfect choice! Several of the songs were peaceful and serene, almost spa-like, where I could easily feel myself relax into my seat with those ragas! Then there were more uplifting ragas with more rapid pace drumming and faster notes coming from your flute. These were some of my favorites of the performance!
AUDIENCE: I LOVE performances where the audience can get involved and "feel the music". Your Guruji encouraged the audience to feel the rhythm and clap along with the more upbeat ragas! I loved that!
Overall, this was a wonderful cultural experience for me to be a part of! Thank you so much for including me in this huge life event for you, Shashi!
Chrissy Somers - Families on the Fox
Thank you for the invitation to attend your visharad.
It was a very soothing and relaxing experience. The stage was set up beautifully and the venue allowed every seat a clear view of the performance.
The audio was tuned appropriately to allow everyone a chance to hear you and your accompaniments.
The visual effects were nice but not necessary. Your talent and those around you were what we came to see. The visual effects were a nice bonus, though!
We all felt very welcome and appreciated for attending. I am sorry that timing did not allow us to stay for the meal, as we only had a short while to stick around afterward.
We all think you are extremely talented and very generous for considering us friends and extending the invitation to see you and learn about your beautiful culture.
Dan & Tess Kossow - I'm Very Ferris
I had no expectation, other than seeing a friend play his flute at his own graduation. The concert was held in a school auditorium which I would guess to hold around 250 people. The audience appeared to be from many different types of backgrounds, although many were dressed in formal Hindu attire.
Prior to the music starting there was an atmosphere of anticipation that I've felt before when attending big venue types of musical events. Once the music started I was blow away at the level expertise and professionalism. I almost felt as if my friend had been hiding his real identity. I began to wonder if he might possible be a famous accomplished flutist from India. As the concert continued, the music immediately put me into what I would consider to be a spiritual state of mind.
The words to describe what I was feeling would be love, peace & joy. The concert also included visual video imagery behind the performers and also on the walls to my left and right sides. These images added to the experience by reminding me that the world we live in is a magnificent creation and we are apart of it. There were also many lite candles in different formations on stage surrounding the performers. The candles were like icing on the cake. A complete well thought out professional performance that I would have gladly paid money to see.
Well done my friend! No more hiding your gifts. You must share them with the world!
Joren & Kate
I have witnessed live music before many times; many different instruments, moods, and cultures. I have never experienced anything like your visharad. First there was the introduction and ceremony which set a reverent tone for us. Then when the curtain drew back we were dazzled by the beautiful rich colors of the lush cushions and clothing and the vibrant backdrop. This combination of the ornate traditional aesthetic with modern projection reached into the past and pulled it into the present to show us how connected we still are to the times when each raag was first played and all the times in between. The auditorium echoed with the timeless nature of the music and the flute bent our ears to hear it.
Each raag swept it’s own mood over us or even evoked in us a time of day. We didn’t just hear the music, we also learned about it, saw it, and felt it. And the sheer amount preparation was evident because of how smoothly everything went.
The reverence in which the whole visharad took place made it hard to miss the importance of it. I don’t know how to describe it in a nutshell except to say that it was opposites in one; traditional and modern, soothing and exciting, effortful and effortless. It was a pleasure and an honor to attend and the food was wonderful as well.
Maddie Smith
I was personally very moved about your Visharad performance. I was mezmorized as I watched you and your fingers as they moved around your flute, the music was so beautiful, it took me to another place at times, very peaceful. I was impressed with your co-musicians also, the girls sang so beautifully as they complimented your playing the flute. This coupled with the visual effects of scenery and the candles were just perfect to set the mood of the auditorium.
Thank you very much for the invitation and would love to come to your next performance!
Dr Alvi MD. ENT
First of all, thank you for the invitation to your Visharad (graduation), my husband and I enjoyed every minute that we listened to your music, we were amazed by your talent and charisma.
We could feel the peace in the atmosphere, and that was pure calmness.
Once again, thank you!!
Rosy Solis
EMBRACE YOUR PASSION
I UNCOVERED MY PASSION FOR MUSIC DURING MY WORK LIFE IN LONDON WHILE I SPENT DAY AND NIGHTS TRAVELING ON THE LONDON UNDERGROUND TO AND FROM HOSPITALS. FROM THAT POINT ON, I BEGAN TO EXPLORE CLASSICAL MUSIC, TO DRIVE WHAT WOULD ONE DAY BECOME A DREAM COME TRUE.
