Tapestry of Traditions

Samarth Nagarkar is a globally recognized flag-bearer of Raga music, known for a richly traditional yet deeply emotive, meditative, and introspective style. Trained by distinguished gurus Ulhas Kashalkar and Dinkar Kaikini, he represents the Gwalior, Agra, and Jaipur gharanas and is a former scholar of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy. He performs worldwide both as a soloist with The Samarth Nagarkar Khayal Ensemble and as a collaborator across jazz, Iraqi maqam, conducted improvisation, and Western classical music. A voting member of the Recording Academy (Grammys) and recipient of NAKA’s Outstanding Achievement Award for Excellence in the Arts, he is also a founding member of Brooklyn Raga Massive and co-curator of its Colors of Raga series. His work spans multiple albums, the acclaimed book Raga Sangeet, and innovative digital initiatives through Raga Sangeet Creative, where he pioneers new pathways for audience engagement, education, mentorship, and monetization in Indian classical music.

Niranjana Hegde,  is disciple of the eminent harmonium virtuoso Sudhir Nayak and previously received training from Vasantrao Kanakapur. He is well versed in both accompaniment and solo playing and has traveled widely across India. He received the “Shiva Saadhak” award in 2023 at Dharwad.

Sagar Bharathraj is one of Bangalore’s most sought after tabla players, known for his sensitive and intuitive accompaniment to vocalists across Khyal gharanas. He trained under his father Bharathraj Venkat Rao from Calicut, Kerala. He went on to receive more advanced training and guidance from great masters like Omkar Gulwady and Ravidra Yavagal in recent years.

Sagar is a research scientist with a chemical engineering background. A triple gold medalist for Btech from NIT Calicut, Mtech & PhD from IISc Bangalore, Sagar was also awarded the National Award for the best Mtech thesis in chemical engineering and has numerous international patents and publications to his credit.