Nachiketa Sharma

Hailing from Dharwad, Karnataka, Nachiketa Sharma was initiated into Hindustani classical vocal music by his parents. His formal study began in Madras under Shri B. N. Simha and later under Shri B. Hanumantachar. His rigorous and extended pedagogy came under the virtuoso late Padmabhushan Pandit Basavraj Rajguru. Nachiketa has performed in several cities across India and the United States. He is a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area and runs the Rajguru Sangeet Vidyaniketan school of music.

Vasant Kanakapur

A harmonium player of celebrated eminence, Vasant  Kanakapur is a native of Dharwad. He received his initial training from the age of five under Shri R. G. Desai and  Shri  Gopalrao  Desai  of Hubli  and  was  further  trained under the late Shri Hanumantrao Walvekar of Dharwad.  He  provided  his  first  accompaniment  to Surshri Kesarbai Kerkar at the age of eleven. Vasant Kanakapur has accompanied on the harmonium a galaxy of reputed  musicians such as Ustad Amir Khan,  Pt. Mallikarjun Mansur, Pt. Basavraj Rajguru, Smt. Gangubai Hangal,  Pt.  Bhimsen Joshi,  Smt.  Kishori  Amonkar, Smt. Parveen Sultana, Smt. Prabha Atre and Pt. Rasiklal Andharia.

He is the recipient of several titles and awards such as Karnataka Kala Tilaka from  the Sangeeta Nritya Akademi, the prestigious  state  award  from  the  government  of   Karnataka, Manjusharatna  from  the  the  government of Maharashtra and Nadashree from Karnataka Kalakar Mandal. Kanakapur is a retired staff artist from All  India Radio, Dharwad.

Rajgopal Kallurkar

Rajgopal Kallurkar obtained his maiden tabla training from Girish Avte of Dharwad, after which he trained under Ustad Sheikh Dawood Khan of Hyderabad. Kallurkar holds a Sangeet Ratna from Dharwad's Karnatak University and a Sangeet Alankar from the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in Miraj. He has accompanied on the tabla a host of musicians such as Smt. Gangubai Hangal, Pt. Basavraj Rajguru, Shri Madhav Gudi and Smt. Padma Talwalkar. A zealous teacher, Kallurkar opened the Kallur Mahalakshmi Tabla Vidyalaya in Dharwad and later moved it to Bangalore, where he now resides and continues to impart tabla lessons. To his credit, Kallurkar has developed a taala of eleven beats called "Virajak."

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