Date: Saturday, May 2, 2026, 5:00 PM EDT

Venue: India International Spiritual & Meditation Center

Tabla: Shri Rigved Deshpande

Harmonium: Shri. Shreyas Ravi

About the Artists

Samarth Nagarkar is a Hindustani classical vocalist, educator, and author based in New York, widely regarded as one of today's foremost ambassadors of raga music. Trained under masters Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar and Pandit Dinkar Kaikini, and a former scholar of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata, he is proficient across three gharanas: Gwalior, Agra, and Jaipur. He has performed at venues such as Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Chicago World Music Festival, and is a voting member of the Recording Academy. He is also the author of the acclaimed book Raga Sangeet and a co-founder of the Brooklyn Raga Massive collective.

Rigved Deshpande is an accomplished tabla player with more than 20 years of stage experience, trained under Pandit Chandrashekhar Vaze, Shri Swapnil Bhate, and Pandit Ramdas Palsule. He has accompanied leading artists including Vidushi Padma Talwalkar, Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty, and Pandit Shaunak Abhisheki, and has performed at prestigious festivals such as the Sawai Gandharva-Bhimsen Mahotsav in Pune and the Sur Mansoor Festival in Mumbai.

Shreyas Ravi is an award-winning harmonium player based in the Washington DC area. A senior disciple of Pandit Ravi Chary, he has presented numerous harmonium solo and duet performances across India and the United States, and is a recipient of the Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar Award and the Pandit Omkarnath Thakur Award. He has accompanied prominent artists including Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, Vidushi Aarti Ankalikar Tikekar, and Pandit Shubhankar Banerjee.