Pianist | Composer Ustav Lal

Steinway Artist, Utsav Lal is an Indian pianist, improviser, educator and composer. Utsav Lal is recognized as a musician extraordinaire who has set a precedent in the world of music with his rendition of Ragas on the Piano. An impressive music career behind him spanning nearly two decades , Utsav is often known as the 'Raga Pianist' for his innovative handling of the Indian Classical music genre. He has gained international recognition for his ground-breaking work with performances across the world in countries including Italy, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Hong Kong, Sweden, Kuwait, The Netherlands, USA, Canada, Singapore and India.

He was the youngest winner ever in the individual category in the ten years running of the MAMA awards. Utsav was chosen as the three top Asian music child prodigies to perform at the Asia on The Edge festival (AOTE 2008) in Singapore. His extensive work lays the foundation for a strong legacy that establishes the piano in a new role and he was recognized as a Young Steinway Artist in 2010 by leading piano makers Steinway and Sons. Utsav Lal received the ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, London) International Scholarship (2010) for undergraduate study at any of UK's four Royal Schools of Music, a coveted scholarship awarded only to chosen four exceptional musicians amongst worldwide applicants.

Utsav Lal has performed several concerts in a lead role at venues that include Carnegie Hall-New York, The National Concert Hall- Dublin, Steinway Hall, NYC The Chambers-Singapore, Southbank Centre-London, Asia Society- Hong Kong, The Kennedy Center-Washington DC, Theatre Orangerie-The Netherlands, India Habitat Centre-New Delhi, Arts Centre- Melbourne, NCPA-Mumbai, Bridgewater Hall-Manchester and others.

George Brooks

Saxophonist | Composer | Arranger
" A fascinating set…Exotically lyrical…gracefully bridges seemingly antithetical disciplines. " Billboard Magazine – Critics Choice

"Able to play in the tradition of Coltrane and Dexter Gordon one moment and with Terry Riley or Kronos Quartet the next Brooks is fast becoming a leading voice in the realm where jazz and north Indian improvisation meet." San Francisco Bay Guardian

George Brooks is a prolific and diverse saxophonist and composer, acclaimed for successfully bridging the worlds of jazz and Indian classical music. He is the founder of Indian fusion groups Summit with Zakir Hussain, Steve Smith, Kai Eckhardt and Fareed Haque; Bombay Jazz with Larry Coryell and Ronu Majumdar; the Raga Bop Trio with Steve Smith and Carnatic guitarist Prasanna and Elements with Indian violinist Kala Ramnath and Dutch harpist Gwyneth Wentink.

In 1996, Brooks recorded Lasting Impression and two years later Night Spinner, for Zakir Hussain's Moment Records. These recordings received wide acclaim as landmarks at the intersection of jazz and Indian classical music. Brooks was hailed as the "leading voice in Indian Jazz fusion." He was soon performing and recording with India's most prominent artists including Hussain, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Sultan Khan, Aashish Khan, Shankar Mahadevan and L. Subramaniam. In 2000 Brooks recorded Summit, another grounding breaking work of Indian/jazz fusion featuring Zakir Hussain and Journey drummer Steve Smith. Summit performed throughout the US, Europe and Asia, incorporating guest performers Niladri Kumar, Vikku Vinayakram, Fazal Qureshi and Hariprasad Chaurasia.

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Artists: Ustav Lal, George Brooks