“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilisation,” Mahatma Gandhi.
Music can bring us to communicate at a very deep level leading us towards something that is beyond the sum of its components. Accomplished musicians Leo Vertunni on sitar and Manish Madankar on tabla will be performing two concerts at 10.30 and 14.00 in The Green House (to the right as you enter through the main Floriade expo entrance).
Leo Vertunni (Italy) – Sitar player
Born in London in 1989, Leo was in touch with Indian music from childhood, being in a family of artists devoted to Indian culture and spirituality. Leo grew up taking part in his family theatre and musical productions. Later he undertook academic studies in Indology and Indian music, gaining andhonours BA degree at the University of Bologna and a Master’s degree in Indian Music Performance at the SOAS University of London. He studied the technique of sitar and the practice of Indian classical improvisation with renowned masters such as Pt. Avaneendra Sheolikar, Ust. Dharambir Singh and presently Ust. Mehboob Nadeem. As a performer Leo has been working on a number of projects (Indialucia, Seven Eyes, Divine Symphony Orchestra, Ragamala project) and as a session musician for many more, touring extensively in Europe, North America, and also having performed in South America, Asia, and Africa.
Manish Madankar (India) – Tabla player
He is an experienced tabla player who has performed throughout India, in Europe, China, Singapore and Russia. He is a versatile percussionist as a solo performer, as an accompanist for instrumental music, vocals, kathak dance, fusion music and orchestral music, boasting several contributions in the Bollywood film industry and in Indian TV programs such as D.D. National Channel and Indian Classical Music Channel (InSync Channel). Dedicated to the study of the instrument from a very young age, he learned from the main exponents of the tabla including Pandit Sandesh Popatkar of Nagpur and the famous Pandit Yogesh Samsi of Mumbai. In 2007 he obtained a Master’s degree in tabla at the Music Department of the Indira Kala Sangit University of Khairagarah and in 2010 a post-master’s degree in instrument at the same university. Following the recognition by the Indian government as an “Approved Artist” among the artists of All India Radio (2016), from 2017 he became an examining member for Masters in tabla and music at the aforementioned university, and external professor of music theory and tabla at the music department of the University of Mumbai. Currently established in Italy, Rome, he has already held several masterclasses in Hindustani tabla and rhythms at the Nirmal Arts Academy in Cabella Ligure (Alessandria). Lately he collaborated with the highly esteemed Sarod Maestro Ken Zuckerman in Switzerland. Since October 2020 he has held the position of tabla teacher in the Department of Traditional Music at the ‘Arrigo Pedrollo’ Conservatory of Music in Vicenza.
Both concerts are free and organised by Stichting Sahaja Yoga Nederland.