Bhavya is from Guwahati, Assam. She has been learning guitar since 1st standard and has already cleared the classical guitar Grade 8 performance exam under ABRSM. Recently, Bhavya has also started playing the electric guitar but classical guitar remains her first priority. In the state of Assam, the classical guitar is not so prominent among musicians of the new generation. Bhavya’s dream is to create awareness in her state about the importance of western classical music as the pillar of any form of guitar playing. Her vision is to establish a formal platform and forum for the newer generation of guitar players from Assam.

Himaghna studies classical guitar at the Calcutta School of Music and is currently at Grade 4, Trinity College London. Himaghna’s discovered the Spanish Guitar and it’s elegance at the age of 6 and has been playing for over 4 years. It is his passion to become a good classical guitarist and by working with CGRFI, Himaghna seeks to discover new techniques, styles and a deeper understanding of both Western classical music and the guitar.

Shristi’s classical guitar journey started 7 years ago under the able guidance of Sir Shyamal K.De at the Calcutta School Of Music. She has performed in various concerts over the years and attended workshops held by the Calcutta Classical Guitar Society. Shristi placed Second in the Youth Category in the 11th Calcutta International Classical Guitar Competition held in 2020. Over the years she has been inspired to take up music as part of her higher education. As a CGRFI mentee, Shristi aims to improve and develop her skillset as a musician and become competent enough to reach the international concert stage.

Siddartha began playing the classical guitar in 2014 after having learnt a variety of styles and genres of music (including Indian classical music) on the acoustic guitar for several years. Siddartha has attained Grade 8 ABRSM for classical guitar with distinction and is working towards more performance related projects. Although Indian classical is one of his favourite areas, his aim is to gain a deeper understanding of Western Classical music. As a professional, Siddartha teaches guitar to juniors and he also composes and arranges his own music.

Arya has been playing the classical guitar for just over 3 years. He has already gathered experience of performing on stage by playing in school concerts and in various cultural events in his hometown. After attending the Art Guitar Fest Calcutta in December of 2022, Arya was inspired to apply for CGRFI and continue his musical education from the mentors he met at the festival. By continuing his music education with CGRFI, Arya hopes to develop his skills as a music student and performer.

Abhishek is from Kolkata and has been learning the classical guitar for over 2 years. He teaches music privately and is a regular performer at various cultural events in his home city. Abhishek seeks to widen his knowledge and understanding of music as a mentee of the CGRFI programme.

Adarsh is from Kalimpong. Darjeeling.He has been learning classical guitar for many years and teaches and performs privately. Through CGRFI, Adarsh aims to improve his playing and develop his musicianship.

Ritu is a guitarist with an eclectic taste in music, who is currently pursuing his PhD in musicology from Rabindra Bharati University. Originally from Jorhat, Assam ( the north eastern part of India) Ritu has been living, studying and teaching guitar in Kolkata for the last 10 years. As a classical guitarist, Ritu has been appointed as a teacher for the first batch of the classical guitar department at the Rabindra Bharati University. Having received the highest marks for his M.A. degree in musicology from his University, Ritu hopes to inspire and encourage those who wants to take up the classical guitar professionally.

Shyamal Kumar De started his career as a professional guitarist in 1978. In 1990 he became an enthusiastic, highly motivated and popular teacher with an excellent ability to teach children at all levels. In 1999 he joined Calcutta Centre for Communication and Creativity (C4) and The Calcutta School of Music (estd.1915). Now he teaches a number of music schools with high professional standard. Many of his students acquired graded musical qualification for performance in classical guitar offered by Trinity College London and The Associated Board of the Royal School of Music, London. Some of his students are proud winners of classical guitar competitions organized by the Embassy of Spain in India and International Classical Guitar Competition organized by Calcutta Classical Guitar Society and Indian Guitar Federation.

Samrat Majumder is a Scottish-Indian classical guitarist. Currently studying at the Royal Conservatoire in the Hague with Professor Enno Voorhorst, Samrat also holds a BMus (with First Class Hons) from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) having previously studied with Professor Allan Neave. During his time at the RCS, Samrat was awarded the “Governors Recital Prize” for Strings in 2020. Prior to higher education, Samrat studied with Peter Stewart at the Junior School of the RCS.

Internationally, Samrat has won prizes in competitions across Europe. These include: 1st Prize at the XVII Twents Festival International Guitar Competition (The Netherlands, 2022), 1st Prize and Audience Award at the III Aalborg International Guitar Competition (Denmark, 2021), 2nd Prize at the IX RAGO International Guitar Competition (Germany, 2017) and 3rd Prize at the XXII Musicians’ Company “Ivor Mairants Guitar Award” (UK, 2019).

Samrat is very enthusiastic about the classical guitar in India. Having co-founded CGRFI with Srijit Mukherjee, he is also pursuing artistic research into investigating Eastern influences in the solo classical guitar repertory. Samrat strives to help strengthen the connection between the classical guitar and Indo-Asian cultures.

Samrat performs with an instrument made by renowned English luthier Michael Gee.

Srijit is a classical guitarist and music educator from Kolkata, India, who has been professionally trained for several years in Germany and Austria. With a former academic background in Software / Programming, Srijit wanted to pursue his passion but saw no possibility of studying the classical guitar at University level in India. This led him to become arguably the first Indian to study the classical guitar in Germany.

After attending several concerts and masterclasses organized by the Calcutta Classical Guitar Society, as well as performing at the monthly guitar concerts at the Calcutta School of Music, Srijit self-actualized where he belonged and found his own journey in western Europe. In his mid twenties, he moved for a period of 6 months to Vienna, Austria, where he studied directly under Prof. Jorgos Panetsos and then in 2018 he moved to Stuttgart, Germany, where he resided till September 2022. Srijit has been mentored by Prof. Tillmann Reinbeck, alongside former teaching by Prof. Johannes Monno and Kathrin Klingeberg at the Stuttgart Music University (HMDK Stuttgart).

Since October 2022, Srijit has moved back to his hometown of Kolkata, India and has been teaching classical guitar privately. In December 2022, Srijit had co-organised CGRFI’s first inaugural Art Guitar Fest Calcutta, which had a warm & positive reception. Srijit sees it as his mission as a music educator to expand his musical horizon, to share his knowledge and to nurture the talent of serious classical guitarists of India, hoping to unlock their potential and wishing to see them on the international concert stage.

Madhavan Somanathan was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1991 and started playing the classical guitar (an instrumental form of guitar music, stemming from the European classical tradition) at the age of 7. At a young age, he moved to Delhi, India where he continued to take classical guitar lessons at the Delhi School of Music for several years and at the age of 14, he won first prize at the first National Classical Guitar Competition organized by the Guitar Guild of Goa in Panaji.  

From 2009 to 2013, Madhavan studied at Columbia University in New York where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. During this time, he performed with Columbia University Guitar Ensemble, a dynamic group performing classical arrangements for six guitars.  

From 2013 to 2017, Madhavan studied classical guitar performance under French Maestro Judicaël Perroy at the Conservatory of Aubervilliers in France. In 2014, Madhavan won 3rd prize at the prestigious Calcutta International Guitar Festival becoming the first Indian guitarist to place at the competition since its inception in 2010.  

Aside from his work as a solo artist, Madhavan also plays together with the Korean guitarist Jihyung Park. The duo played their debut concert at festival Novum Generatio in Cluj-Napoca, Romania in November 2015. In 2017, Madhavan toured India as a member of the internationally-based Terra Guitar Quartet, performing contemporary music from around the world, in Bengaluru, Kolkata, Delhi, Mussoorie and Tiruvannamalai. He presently resides in Delhi, working as a freelance classical guitar teacher and concertist and has led a guitar ensemble for two semesters at Ashoka University. He is looking to be actively involved with the guitar again after a hiatus of two years.

Santanu Datta is an Indian composer of contemporary classical music and a classical guitarist based in Kolkata. A graduate of IIT Kharagpur and an alumnus of the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris (Diplôme Supérieur, 2011-2016), Santanu studied composition, writing and aesthetics, orchestration, analysis, classical guitar (DEM, FTCL and LRSM), chamber music and historical performance practices with musicians like Edith Lejet, Stéphane Delplace, Anthony Girard, Narcis Bonet, François Martin and others. Santanu has performed widely as a soloist and his compositions have been performed by musicians from all over the world.

Veda is indisputably recognised as the main catalyst for classical guitar activity within India. A classical guitarist herself, she joined the Calcutta Classical Guitar Society (CCGS) in 2015 in an administrative capacity, with the initial objective of enabling guitarists across India to form their own organisations and create the Indian Guitar Federation. The following year, Veda moved to Kolkata as Director of CCGS to organise the Calcutta International Classical Guitar Festival (the largest classical guitar festival in South Asia), curate and produce large-format public concerts, and set up holistic music education programmes for disadvantaged young people.

It was during this period that Veda solidified her network within the national classical guitar community, as well as with international cultural missions, and music schools both within India and abroad. Under her direction, the Calcutta International Classical Guitar Festival developed into a platform to present the world’s best classical guitarists in concert; provide high quality education, professional support and community engagement to classical guitarists across India.

In 2018, Veda was invited by the Embassy of Spain as a delegate to the Cordoba Guitar Festival. In 2019, she was selected as one of 13 ATSA Fellows, to receive specialised training and an international secondment as part of a cohort of curators and managers that operate within the cultural space in South Asia.

While classical guitar has remained a constant, Veda’s professional background is diverse and includes working as a feature writer for Pune Mirror; head of branding for KLISMA, (an e-commerce start up); co-founding an independent publishing house (Black-and-White Fountain); founding partner of KultX (an organisation that acts as a catalyst for social and cultural change in Kolkata) and designing book covers, layouts and websites. Since the COVID Pandemic, Veda has been based out of Pondicherry where she is also an active yoga teacher within the Sivananda tradition.