Rita Sahai

Born in Allahabad India, Rita was accepted at the age of nine as a disciple of renowned vocalist, Pandit Rama Shankar Mishra who groomed her in the romantic Benares Gharana style. After coming to the United States Rita continued her studies under the world famous sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan where she trained in the Seni Allaudin Gharana style known for its creativity and purity of ragas. Impressed by her talent and passion towards music, Khan Sahib has given her the title “Gayan Alankar” (Jewell of Music).

Rita, an acclaimed composer and performer, tours extensively throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and India. She is also in demand at recording studios at home and abroad where she graciously lends her voice to many diverse musical projects including laying down vocal trax for Grammy Award winning blue grass artist Bella Fleck and performing on Alonzo Kings Sacred Texts, a CD of international music that won the Isadora Duncan award for music excellence. She has produced several CDs of her own, one of which, Rangamalika, is currently entered to be considered as a Grammy nomination.

For more info, please visit ritasahai.com

Vivek Anand

Vivek Anand comes from a musical family. His Punjabi father and Malayali mother sing folk songs, film songs, ghazals and bhajans and are inspired by K.L. Saigal, Begum Akhtar and Asha Bhosale. One of his brothers sings film songs and is inspired by Kishore Kumar. Vivek began by singing with them at home in Bombay and at Punjabi weddings and for prayer gatherings at home and in school. While going to Architecture school he studied ghazals from Master Nasir Kadri in Bombay and presently studies Hindustani Classical singing with Rita Sahai who has been trained in the Benares and Seni Allaudin gharanas. Vivek also sings with a quartet called Trivium consisting of 4 San Francisco based musicians from 3 traditions - Georgian, Native American and Indian. He has performed at meditation gatherings, homes, temples, churches. He has sung for Willie Brown at the Mayor’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, at St. Mary’s Cathedral for an Interfaith service and performed at Trikone’s first Culture Kulcha.

Ferhan Qureshi

Ferhan has been a student of tabla and traditional Pakistani/Indian music for the past 11 years. He is a senior disciple of the tabla maestro, Ustad Abdul Sattar Tari Khan, who is universally recognized as one of the foremost tabla players performing today. Ustad Tari Khan learned tabla from Miyan Shuakat Hussain Khan, the most celebrated tabla nawaz (performer) in Pakistan's musical history. Prior to studying with Ustad Tari Khan, Ferhan took his initial lessons in Hindustani music theory and practice with Shri Surrinder Mann Singh (a senior disciple of the late Ustad Allah Rakha). Ferhan studies the Punjab gharana of classical tabla which both of his teachers represent. Ferhan has accompanied numerous distinguished artists both in the United States and in Pakistan, including: Ustad Shafqat Ali Khan, Ustad Ghulam Farid Nizami, Asad Qizilbash, Ustad Habib Khan, Ustad Altaff Hussain, Riffat Sultana, Sukhawat Ali Khan, Shri Mukesh Desai, Dr. Waheed Siddiqui, and Shri Arnab Chakravarty, among others. He has also had the honor of accompanying Ustad Ali Akbar Khan during Khansahib's vocal and instrumental classes at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Raphael. Ferhan is the Director of Artist Management at Bol Records and is diligently working towards the promotion of traditional Pakistani and Indian music in the Bay Area.