Raag-Mala Toronto

Roopa Panesar (sitar) and Ragini Shankar (violin)
2025-04-12 19:30 - 22:30 UTC | Aga Khan Museum, 77 Wynford Dr,, North York, Ontario, M3C 1K1, Canada
Roopa Panesar (sitar) and Ragini Shankar (violin)This is a two-part 3-hour concert with a 20-minute intermission.Date: Saturday April 12th 2025 at 7:30pm

Ticket Pricing:Balcony: $50Orchestra: $70
Raag-Mala Member Discount: 10%

A limited number of $20 student tickets will be available for purchase directly from Raag-Mala Toronto. Please email raagmalatoronto@gmail.com for details.

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Roopa Panesar

Roopa Panesar is considered one of the finest sitar players to emerge on the Indian Classical Music scene from the UK. She is a disciple of the renowned educationalist and leading musicianof the UK, Ustad Dharambir Singh ji MBE who is a disciple of Ustad Vilayat Khan.

Roopa’s knowledge and skills have also been strengthened by additional training from masters including Pandit Arvind Parikh, Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan, Pt. Buddhaditya Mukherjee and Ustad Bahauddin Dagar.
Embracing Indian classical music as well as jazz and western classical genres, Roopa Panesar leaves audiences captivated and peers filled with respect. Her outstanding musical ability has resulted in a stream of high-profile national and international concerts, tours and televised performances including the BBC1 televised VJ75 memorial in the presence of HRH The Prince of Wales and working with the Belgian Symphony Orchestra.

Roopa Panesar proudly joins the modest number of Indian females worldwide who have launched their careers as full-time touring and teaching sitar players.
Roopa will be accompanied by Shahbaz Hussain on tabla.

Shahbaz Hussain

Shahbaz Hussain is one of the most promising tabla virtuosos of his generation. He has received numerous accolades for his captivating performances, including the prestigious “Son of Lahore” Award from the Government of Pakistan.

He began his training at age five with his father, the late Ustad Mumtaz Hussain – a prominent vocalist. He later went on to study with tabla legends Ud Faiyaz Khan from the Delhi Gharana, the late Ud Shaukat Hussain Khan from the Punjab Gharana and finally the late maestro Ud Allah Rakha Khan.

Shahbaz has accompanied great masters like Ud Salamat Ali Khan, Ud Shahid Parvez, Ud Rais Khan, Ud Fateh Ali Khan, Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia and ghazal legend Ghulam Ali to name but a few.
He has performed extensively in Europe, North America & Asia at many prestigious venues, including the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., Lincoln Center in New York andLondon’s Royal Albet & Queen Elizabeth Halls.
He teaches tabla in the UK, including at the University of Newcastle and the University of Huddersfield.

Ragini Shankar

Born in a family with a musical lineage spanning over seven generations, Ragini Shankar began her training in Hindustani (North Indian) Classical Music on the Violin at the tender age of 4 under the tutelage of her illustrious grandmother, Padmabhushan Dr. N Rajam and her exemplary mother Dr. Sangeeta Shankar, ace violinists of India. Being highly gifted in her musical talents, Ragini has grown to show brilliance in her performances. Her asset being her ability to reproduce vocal music on the violin (Gayaki Ang, a revolutionary technique invented by her grandmother, Dr. N Rajam) with astounding accuracy, tonal quality &
exceptional fingering and bowing techniques.

Ragini gave her first public performance at the age of 11. Thereafter she has performed in many prestigious music festivals all over India, North America, Europe, UK and South-east Asia.

She is known for her collaborations with various artists in diverse genres. Ragini and her sister Nandini Shankar have been signed by Decca Records US, a part of Universal Music Group for a full-length music album for their musical ensemble ‘Taraana’. Ragini is a recipient of the distinguished Aditya Birla Kala Kiran Award and the Jashn-e-Youngistan award presented by the Vice President of India. She currently teaches at Rajam School of Violin and was a faculty at the Whistling Woods International-School of Music. She has also appeared on the platform of Talks at Google and TEDx for Indian music. Ragini has been highly applauded by music enthusiasts for being one of the most promising faces of Indian Classical music.

Ragini will be accompanied by Mukindraj Deo on tabla.

Mukundraj Deo

One of the finest Tabla Players of India’s young generation, Mukundraj Deo comes from a artistic family. He has undergone a rigorous training of Tabla from Late Pt. Brijraj Mishra [Disciple of Late Pt. Sharada Sahai] of Banaras Gharana and Pt. Mridangraj of Ajrada Gharana.

He completed Sangeet Visharad and Alankaar in Tabla with first class from Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. His talent was acclaimed in the form of National Scholarship from Government of India in 1990, a prestigious title Taalmani from Sursingar Samsad, Bombay in 1993 and National fellowship in 1997. He is an A grade artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan.

He has the distinction of having accompanied Maestros like Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Birju Maharaj, Dr. Prabha Atre, Begum Parveen Sultana, Dr. N. Rajam, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Pt. Ramnarayan.

He has travelled overseas to many countries and participated in International Music Festivals in Adelaide – Australia, York early Music Festivals – England, Fes world Music festival – Morocco, Festival at Sydneyera House – Sydney
