Student of the Month | April 2014

Congratulations to our April Student of the Month – 13 year old tabla student Nikhil Rao! Thirteen year old Nikhil Rao has been taking tabla lessons for one year at the Taalim School, formerly with Kaumil Shah and now with Mike Lukshis at our Piscataway location. Nikhil got interested in tabla when he attended a concert by Ustad Zakir Hussain. "I was inspired by the music and I wanted to play the instrument that gave such energy and rhythm to Indian music." In the last year, he had dived head-on into his tabla training, attending Taalim's summer camp and participating in our recently concluded [more]

2014 Pledge for Practice Participants

Taalim’s Pledge for Practice is an annual 6-week pledge drive in which Taalim students dedicate themselves to a target practice goal in order to raise money to support financially disadvantaged musicians in India. In 2013, the Pledge for Practice participants collectively raised over $4500 and the 2014 batch looks to surpass that mark. Meet the participants of our 2014 Pledge for Practice - Ankush Patel, Janak Munshi, Leela Hedge, Mark Buccheri, Neel Prabhu, Neha Ramaswamy, Nikhil Rao, Raajith Thota, Saheli Kothari, Satyam Poonith, and Vinay Ramaswamy. Donate to the campaign (via paypal) by clicking the button below (when asked, the email address is [more]

Student of the Month - March 2014

Congratulations to our March Student of Month - Joanne Mathew!   Twelve year old Joanne Mathew loves music, dance and singing. She started taking keyboard lessons at a young age. In October 2012, when she got serious about playing the keyboard, she joined Taalim and has been learning under Mark Buccheri in Piscataway, New Jersey. Since then, her technical knowledge and playing skills have improved significantly. She says, “I love music! For me, being able to play something - a full piece or just two chords - on the keyboard / piano that make a grand sound is so much fun and [more]

Know your Indian Maestro Round #2

Two weeks ago, we launched the Taalim version (and highly modified edition) of Guess Who? - now named WHO AM I  to know our Indian music maestros.  Check out round one here. Here's round two.  Hover over the image for the right answer or scroll down.   Don't cheat!  Share your memories or favorite songs by the maestro in the comments.         PANDIT BHIMSEN [more]

Know Your Indian Maestro #1

Time to learn more about the legends who nourished Indian music and dance in a highly modified version of Guess Who? Guess who the maestro is based on the clues.  Hover over the image for the correct answer or scroll down below.                 USTAD ALLA RAKHA KHAN Also known as "Abbaji", he is credited for being one of the driving forces in popularizing tabla in the West. As the chief accompanist for Pandit Ravi Shankar for many many years and as a soloist, Ustad Alla Rakha performed across the globe introducing countless to the art of [more]