Arts Barn Gaithersburg & District of Raga Present Vinay Desai

Tickets $22.00 - $32.00 including fees

Vinay Desai, santoor; Anirudh Alva Changkakoti, tabla

Acclaimed santoor virtuoso Vinay Desai invites listeners on a deeply immersive musical journey that blends meditative calm with rhythmic intensity. Known for his expressive improvisation and refined sense of rhythm, Vinay opens the evening with a melodic exploration that draws the audience into a space of deep stillness and introspection.

As the mood of the raag is established and the sonic landscape takes shape, Anirudh joins on tabla, adding dynamic rhythmic interplay that seamlessly merges with Vinay’s flowing phrases. Together, they craft an evolving dialogue of melody and rhythm, guiding listeners through a powerful performance that builds in energy and concludes with a fast-paced, exhilarating finale.

The concert closes with a semi-classical devotional piece, offering a graceful and contemplative end to the evening. With a rare ability to embrace, explore, and reinterpret tradition, Vinay and Anirudh bring fresh life to classical forms while remaining rooted in their essence.

Anirudh Alva Changkakoti was identified as a child prodigy at the age of 3 by his guru, Dr.Narendra Verma, a disciple of the illustrious, Ustad Alla Rakha. Dr. Verma trained Anirudh intensively in the Punjab gharana style of tabla playing, which is known for its blend of aesthetics and mathematics. Over the years, Anirudh’s passion for the instrument only grew stronger, leading him to absorb knowledge and compositions from many other gharanas to create his own unique style of tabla solos and tasteful accompaniment. Anirudh has won numerous awards at both state and national levels in the US. He has performed across the US, Canada, Mexico, and India, and at prestigious venues such as the Kennedy Center. Anirudh has had the opportunity to record with multiple Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning artists as well. Through his guru’s referral, Anirudh has been training under his hero and inspiration, Ustad Zakir Hussain for the past 15 years.