Artist: Bihar Brothers: Shri Sanjeev Jha (R) and Shri Manish Kumar (L)
Event: Concert of Dhrupad Jugalbandi, 29th May, 2017
Disciples of Padmashri Gundecha Brothers (Shri Umakant Gundecha & Shri Ramakant Gundecha) of Bhopal, and notably the first Dhrupad duo vocalist from Bihar to sing Dagarvaani, Shri Sanjeev Jha and Manish Kumar have been learning Dhurad for over 10 years. Both have been awarded Sir Dorabji Tata Fellowship for Advanced Study in Dhrupad.
Between 1994 -1996, Shri Sanjeev Jha received his initial training from Ustad Habeeb Khan (Hazipur) He advanced his training under the guidance of Pandit Arun Bhaduri (SRA, Kolkata) between 1996 -1998. Since 2007 he has been guided and mentored by the Padmashri Gundecha Brothers. Besides, Sanjeevji is a Bachelor in Music from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Masters from Delhi University. He has performed in India and abroad and is also teaching Dhrupad, on behalf of his Gurus since 2009, at the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, Delhi.
At a young age of 15 years, Manish Kumar started his basic training. Subsequently, he joined the Faculty of Performing Arts, BHU for his Diploma in Hindustani Classical Music – Vocal. Thereafter he secured a degree both in Bachelors and Masters Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidhyalaya, Chhattisgarh. His first guru, Dr. Vijay Kapoor is from Varanasi. For the past 10 years, he has been learning from Padmashri Gundecha Brothers under the Guru-Shishya Parampara. Besides rendering performances in India and abroad, Manishji is also teaching at the Hyderabad branch of Dhrupad Sansthan.