Sunday October 5, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Auditorium: Unity Church of the Hills, 9905 Anderson Mill Road, Austin 78750
Please arrive at least 20 minutes early. Seating is on a first-come-first-serve basis within each Zone.
Contact us:
- 512-895-9524, Email: icmca.committee@gmail.com
Strings of Legacy: Sitar Virtuoso Pandit Kushal Das
Pt. Kushal Das is an internationally acclaimed sitar and surbahar maestro, hailed for his profound artistry and deep-rooted musical lineage. Born into a distinguished musical family in Kolkata, Kushal Das was immersed in the world of Indian classical music from a young age. His grandfather, the late Shri Bimal Chandra Das, was a renowned esraj virtuoso, while his father, Shri Sailen Das, and uncle, Shri Santanu Das, are both respected sitarists.
Kushal’s musical training began at the age of five under the guidance of his father and uncle. His father was a disciple of the late Pt. Lakshman Bhattacharya and later of Bharat Ratna Pt. Ravi Shankar, while his uncle trained under the legendary Swar Samrat Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Kushal continued his advanced training under the close tutelage of Pt. Sanjoy Banerjee, and further enriched his musical journey through guidance from greats like the late Pt. Ajoy Sinha Roy (a disciple of Ustad Allauddin Khan), as well as vocal training from the late Pt. Manas Chakraborty and the late Pt. Ramkrishna Basu.
In 2020, Kushal Das was honored with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, India’s highest national recognition in the performing arts. He is also a Top-Grade artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan. With a career spanning major festivals across India and around the world, Kushal Das is celebrated not only for his spellbinding live performances but also for a wide discography released globally.
Accompanying Pandit Kushal Das on tabla will be the acclaimed virtuoso, Pandit Abhijit Banerjee. A senior disciple of the late Pandit Gyan Prakash Ghosh, Pandit Banerjee is one of India’s most sought-after accompanists. He has performed at all the major classical music festivals across India and toured extensively worldwide. Beyond performance, he has composed music for Indian television and was honored with the National Award for Documentary Music for The Trail, a film on Calcutta that featured at both the Munich and Amsterdam film festivals. He is also the founder of the Dhwani Academy of Percussion, with branches in Los Angeles, New York, Singapore, and Kolkata—dedicated to promoting Indian classical music across continents.
