, renowned for his genre-defying collaborations. His playing is marked by uncanny intuition and masterful improvisational dexterity, founded in formidable knowledge and study. Masters of Percussion, an outgrowth of Hussain’s memorable tours with his father, the legendary Ustad Allarakha, has enjoyed successful tours in the West since 1996. Joining the 2012 tour will be Fazal Qureshi, tabla & kanjira; Rakesh Chaurasia,bansuri (bamboo flute); Dilshad Khan, sarangi; Navin Sharma, dholak,; Abbos Kosimov, doyra; and the Meitei Pung Cholom Performing Troupe (dancing drummers of Manipur).

Zakir Hussain is today appreciated both in the field of percussion and in the music world at large as an international phenomenon. A classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order, his consistently brilliant and exciting performances have not only established him as a national treasure in his own country, India, but gained him worldwide fame. His playing is marked by uncanny intuition and masterful improvisational dexterity, founded in formidable knowledge and study. The favorite accompanist for many of India’s greatest classical musicians and dancers, he has not let his genius rest there. Widely considered a chief architect of the contemporary world music movement, Zakir’s contribution to world music has been unique, with many historic collaborations, including Shakti, which he founded with John McLaughlin and L. Shankar, Remember Shakti, the Diga Rhythm Band, Making Music, Planet Drum with Mickey Hart, Tabla Beat Science, Sangam with Charles Lloyd and Eric Harland and recordings and performances with artists as diverse as George Harrison, YoYo Ma, Joe Henderson, Van Morrison, Airto Moreira, Pharoah Sanders, Billy Cobham, Mark Morris, Rennie Harris, and the Kodo drummers. The foremost disciple of his father, the legendary Ustad Allarakha, Hussain was a child prodigy who began his professional career at the age of twelve and had toured internationally with great success by the age of eighteen. He has been the recipient of many awards, grants and honors, including Padma Bhushan (2002), Padma Shri (1988), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1991), Kalidas Samman (2006), the 1999 National Heritage Fellowship Award, the Bay Area Isadora Duncan Award (1998-99) and Grammy Awards in 1991 and 2009 for Best World Music Album for Planet Drum and Global Drum Project, both collaborations with Mickey Hart. His music and extraordinary contribution to the music world were honored in April 2009, with four widely-heralded and sold-out concerts on Carnegie Hall’s Perspectives series. Also in 2009, Zakir was named a Member in the Order of Arts and Letters by France’s Ministry of Culture and Communication. Most recently, the National Symphony Orchestra with Christoph Eschenbach commissioned and premiered Zakir’sConcerto for Four Soloists at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, which was met with great acclaim.

Fazal Qureshi began his training early under the keen eye of his father and guru, Ustad Allarakha. With encouragement and inspiration from his elder brother Zakir Hussain, Fazal has developed a style distinguished by a fine sense of rhythm, versatility and eloquence. He has performed both as a soloist and as an accompanist in prestigious “Sangeet Sammelans” in India as well as major festivals abroad. The remarkable ease with which Fazal accompanies veteran as well as young Indian classical instrumentalists, vocalists and dancers of both North and South, as well as Western instrumentalists, speaks of the discipline and dedication with which this young, talented artist has pursued music.

Rakesh Chaurasia, nephew and child prodigy of flute maestro Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia is the most accomplished disciple of his uncle and shows all the promise to carry the Chaurasia legacy to new heights. Rakesh possesses the right balance of strength and serenity, very critical factors for an exceptional flautist. Rakesh has already globe trotted many times over, enthralling audiences at classical and semi-classical concerts in Japan, Australia, Europe, South Africa and USA. He is also an accomplished musician having recorded with most of the leading stalwarts of the Indian film industry.

Dilshad Khan was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and descends from a rich lineage of talented musicians. At the age of six, he began studying sarangi under the tutelage of his father Ustad Nasir Khan, a well known and gifted sitar player, his grandfather Ustad Gulab Khan, both an accomplished sarangi player and vocalist and his uncle Ustad Sultan Khan, a world-renowned sarangi player both recognized and celebrated by the president of India. He has played with such revered artists as Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Gulam Mustafa Khan, Pandit Bhavani Shakar, Abida Parveen, Siva Mani and Louiz Banks. Dilshad has given a wide range of concerts all over the world and his artistry can be heard on the silver screen of both Bollywood and Hollywood.

Navin Sharmawas born in the Ulhasnagar district of Maharashtra in 1975 to a musical family and started studying the dholak at a very young age. His first guru was Shyam Rughuram Sharma, his father, and through these studies was introduced to other local musicians who were actively composing scores for Bollywood films. After realizing his desire to study more Indian Classical music, his father insisted he learn from tabla master Ustad Alla Rakha, with whom he studied for several years. Navin has performed with many master musicians over his career, including jazz, fusion, pop, rock, gazal and bhajan ensembles.

Abbos Kosimov was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to a very musical family. He studied at the College of Culture and Music under doyra master Mamurjon Vahabov and graduated in 1988. In 1991, Abbos won second prize in Central Asia and Kazakhstan’s Competition of Percussion Instruments. A few years later, he established the “Abbos School” where he taught the talented youth of his country to play the doyra (presently there are over 100 students in his school). In 2001, in honor of the 10thAnniversary of Uzbekistan’s independence, Abbos was awarded a medal celebrating his status as an “Honored Artist of Uzbekistan.” In 2005, he moved to the United States and he has since recorded and/or performed with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Randy Gloss’s “Hands OnSemble”, Giovanni Hidalgo and Zakir Hussain.

Meitei Pung Cholom Performing Troupe is one of India’s premier performance troupes, combining dance, drumming and martial arts in their repertoire. Dedicated to the rejuvenation of traditional folk and classical Manipuri dance styles, they were established in 1963 by the late Guru Padmashri Amubi Singh, have performed thousands of concerts in India and have enjoyed many successful international tours. Known for their dynamic athleticism and proficiency as well as their unique-sounding drums, they are a visual feast, dazzling audiences with their acrobatic choreography.

*Ghatam Vidwan V Umashankar *comes from a lineage of highly accomplished musicians. He is grandson of Shri T R Harihara Sharma and the second son of Ghatam Maestro T H Vikku Vinayakram, First South Indian Grammy Awardee. Shri Harihara Sharma founded the Shri Jayaganesh Tala Vadya Vidhyalaya where Umashankar began giving performances as early as when he was 5 years old along with other students of the School. He is the only one, amongst his siblings, to follow in his Illustrious father’s footsteps by taking Ghatam as his main instrument. His meteoric rise in the Classical Carnatic music field began with his first concert for Legend Shri T V Gopalakrishnan’s vocal concert in Kanchipuram when he was only 12 years old. Following which he was a regular accompaniment to various upcoming artists of those days namely T M Krishna, Vijay Siva, Sanjay Subramaniam, Unni Krishnan, Ganesh Kumaresh, Nithyashree Mahadevan, Priya Sisters, Sudha Raghunathan et al. This created an opportunity for him to accompany Dr. Sirkazhi Sivachidambaram for a period of two full years when they toured extensively. As a reward to his hardwork he was invited by “Bharatha Ratna” M S Subbulakshmi Amma to accompany her for one concert. This opportunity meant a lot to him as he was filling in place of his peerless father who used to be MS amma’s first choice Ghatam accompaniment as always. Legends Balamurali Krishna, Mandolin U. Shrinivas, Yesudas soon followed with their invitations to accompany them. Along with these invitations came opportunities to travel abroad with many of the stalwarts. He has travelled extensively and enchanted audience world over. His approach in accompanying South Indian Classical Carnatic music was much appreciated by Artists of Hindustani Style which created opportunities for him to accompany Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Zakir Hussain, Pandit Jasraj, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shivkumar Sharma. His ability to captivate the audience with stellar performances in North India brought him accolades and he has been a regular accompaniment to Western, Jazz and Alternative Music Artists such as Jonas Elberg, John Mclaughlin, Ricky Ray, Alexandra Romanova. His demonstrations abroad alongside these artists has clearly shown his virtuosity as well as the ability of his instrument to accompany the plethora of styles of music ranging from South Indian Carnatic all the way to Western Alternative music. Beyond concerts he has been regular accompaniment in Cinema music. He is a regular at the studios of Legend Illayaraja, Oscar Awardee A R Rahman, Harris Jeyaraj and Yuvan Shankara Raja. Noteworthy are his contributions in the project done by A R Rahman titled “Desh Kaa Salaam” in which he accompanies his legendary father. He conducts special performances based on invitations in india and abroad along side his own music group which he has named “Nadabrahmam”. With the blessings of Mahaperiyava of Kanchi Mutt he has embarked on a mission to teach the art he has been blessed with. He teaches Ghatam and Konnakkol, the art of reproducing the rhythmic intonations vocally. He has begun these classes in various private Matriculation and State run school as part of the co-curricular activity in their mainstream and also conducting special workshops. He brings together students of Jaiganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya and pupils from other Schools where he teaches in performances on Konnakkol.