Star Tabla virtuoso & Percussionist Anuradha Pal is an internationally highly acclaimed popular Tabla soloist and versatile accompanist with top Indian classical, African, Jazz & World musicians in major festivals in U.K, USA, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok & Africa. Excellent training from Tabla legends Ustads Alla Rakha & Zakir Hussain, dedicated riyaaz (practice), & incredible support from her parents Devinder & Ila Pal & husband Shyam Sharma, have established Anuradha Pal as one of the ‘30 leading Women of India’ & ‘a percussionist par excellence’(according to the India Today 2006) Clarity, tonal balance, pinpoint precision in rhythm & an amazing repertoire spiced with spontaneous creativity have made Anuradha Pal ‘the most influential female musician of Indian classical music’ according to the A. V Max Music Magazine, May 2001. Anuradha Pal is the founder & music director of two distinct Fusion bands- * Stree Shakti’ is Asia’s much acclaimed, all female percussion-based, instrumental and vocal fusion ensemble whereas * ‘Recharge’ is a unique World music fusion group combining various elements of Indian, African, Latin and Jazz music. Anuradha composed the background score in ‘Gaja Gamini’ 0the acclaimed M.F Husain film, which won tremendous acclaim in the Cannes Film Festival. She regularly scores music for music albums, theatre & documentaries. Distinctions: Anuradha Pal performed solo and with her fusion band ‘Recharge’ in the World famous Woodstock festival in Europe in Aug 2008 to a huge audience of 4 lakh listeners. Anuradha Pal’s Recharge was the only Indian band to perform at Woodstock festival 2008, which has featured legends like Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ustad Alla Rakha & Zakir Hussain in the past. Anuradha is the Only Indian woman musician & the youngest Indian musician to perform in the world renowned WOMAD festival in UK to an audience of 1.5 lakh people in 1999. Anuradha holds the unique distinction of performing Tabla solos for dignitaries like the Queen Elizabeth of England, the honourable Prime Minister & President of India. Awarded the highest cultural award ‘Sanskrutic Puraskar’, by Maharashtra State in 2006 & the ‘Zee Astitva Award’ for musical excellence in 2007. Brand ambassador- acted in a special film by UNICEF to promote female education & achievement. Represented India in the ‘Asian Performers Summit’ in Japan & at the Commonwealth Games Festival, U.K. Lauded by the prestigious Encyclopedia Britannica, Asian-American/ Indo American Who’s who journal for ‘her well balanced musicianship & pioneering contribution as a trail blazer and trend setter for societies around the world’. ‘The Youth icon’ & ‘Woman of Substance’ in corporate launches of Mercedes Benz, Siemens, Tanishq, CNBC TV 18, Crisil, Wizcraft, Fountainhead events amongst several others all over the world. Major contributor in research of the ‘Relationship between the Brain, Music & Language’ at the Neurosciences university of San Diego & the ‘Study of Tabla, Aesthetics & its complexities’ at Harvard University, USA. Prestigious Performances in India Sangeet Natak Academy ( Delhi, Kota, Imphal) Sangeet Research Academy ( Bombay, Allahabad, Kolkatta) Ajanta- Ellora festival, ( Aurangabad) , Elephanta & Banganga Festival , MTDC Festival, Siddhi Vinayak Fusion festival, IIT Mood Indigo ( Mumbai) & Ganesh Festival, Tabla Samaroh ( Pune) IIT Mood Indigo (Mumbai) & Siddhi Vinayak Fusion festival North/ South/ West/ East Zonal centres ( Nagpur, Chennai, Bangalore, Udaipur, Amritsar, Jallundhar, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Hyderabad etc) Spirit of Unity concerts ( Delhi, Puttapurthi, Vishakapatanam) Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan ( Jallundhar) Sankatmochan Festival ( Varanasi) Baba Allaudin Khan Sangeet Samaroh ( Maihar) Mahakaleshwar Samaroh ( Ujjain) & Tansen Samaroh ( Gwalior) Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad ( Indore, Bhopal,Gwalior, Dewas, Ujjain) Bhopal Utsav, Bharat Bhawan. Vishnu Digamber Jayanti Samaroh (New Delhi) Malleshwaram Sangeet Sabha & Chauddiya Hall (Bangalore), Carnatica festival (Chennai) Doordarshan Award Nites & Akashwani Sangeet Sammelans NCPA, Nehru Center, Spicmacay, Pancham Nishad etc amongst numerous others. Major International Performances- IN U.K - WOMAD ( World of Music & Dance festival) World Premier of the Commonwealth Games (Manchester) Bath International Music festival & the City of London Festival at the prestigious Barbican Hall. Rhythm Sticks (Queen Elizabeth Hall) & BBC Music Live festival ( Scotland) Greenwich & Docklands Festival, Cardiff Jazz festival, Asian Music festival amongst several other venues in UK on tours with prominent artists. In USA - Masters of Indian Music festival, Young Music Wizards of India, Ali Akbar Khan festival, Basant Bahar Festival (SFO), Asia Society (N.Y & SFO), MITHAS, Berkeley School of Music, Learnquest Music Festival (Boston) Workshops/ lecture- demonstrations at prestigious universities like Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins Institute. Artist in residence at the prestigious New England Conservatory, Boston to teach percussion to Percussion major students in September 2006. In Japan - Tokyo Music Festival, Phoenix Music festival, Japan Music Festival etc. In Europe -The world famous Woodstock festival (Poland), Voices of the world festival (Denmark), Sangam Indian Music Festival (Germany), Museum Rietberg (Zurich) amongst others. In Australia - Bellingen Global Festival, Carnivalli Festival, Melba Conservatory of music, Queensland Performing arts complex Rest of the world - In the Bangkok International Music festival, Hong Kong, Victoria Arts Hall in Singapore, New Zealand & for the CHOGM summit in Africa amongst numerous other concerts all over the world. International Media Appreciation & Documentaries: Anuradha has received tremendous appreciation & media acclaim in the Press, Radio and TV channels across the globe. Featured on Polish TV’s major European channel as a great achiever & Indian musician in 2008. Featured Anuradha in film by Doordarshan National Archives titled 'Woman of Substance' in 2006. Documentary 'All about her’ on the Times now channel in 2004. 'Adventure Divas' by USA based Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) made a film titled featuring Anuradha Pal as one of the great women achievers of India and the World in 2001. In 1999, the BBC World Service recorded her group ‘Stree Shakti’s’ memorable concert at the world famous WOMAD festival in Reading, UK where she had the packed audience of 1.5 lakh begging for more! This recording was shown by BBC T.V in 56 countries. Anuradha was featured in the documentary titled 'Aaj ki Nari’ by the Films Division of India in 1999. BBC Radio World Service Program as one of the 'Five Prominent Women Musicians of India' in 1991. Featured extensively on NPR, Asia TV (USA), Radio 3, Sunrise Radio. (U.K), ITV, Australian T.V & Radio channels like ABC, SBC and 3LO, Japanese TV- Radio channels & all Indian TV & Radio channels like Doordarshan, Star TV, Zee, Times TV, NDTV, Aaj Tak, CPC, Alpha, ETC, Surya T.V, ETV etc. Music Albums and DVDs released: ‘Anu’ - Tabla solo album by Anuradha Pal. ‘Stree Shakti’ - Hindustani- Carnatic Fusion, all female ensemble. ‘Nirvana’ - A spiritual essence of India journeying from creation to Moksha. ‘Sheer Magic’& ‘Sensational’ - Shahid Parvez & Anuradha Pal- live concert recordings in Australia. ‘Kesaria- Romancing Rajasthan’ - Energetic Folk music of Rajasthan with a difference! ‘Learn Tabla well from Anuradha Pal’ - Instructional training set on DVDs. Ustad Sultan Khan & Anuradha Pal - released by India Archive music, USA in 1991. ‘Jugalbandi’ with V.M Bhatt, Ronu Mazumdar & Tarun Bhattacharya, which became the fastest selling album in Europe in the classical genre in 1994. ‘Recharge’ - A unique World Fusion band. Awards & Recognition: Anuradha has just received the ‘Sanskrutic Puraskar’- the highest cultural award from her state of Maharashtra, India for ‘Extra-ordinary contribution to Music through Tabla’. (Sept 2006) Pandit Jasraj award for ‘Excellence in Music – Best Musician of the Year 1999’ ‘ Tal Ratna’ from the Bhatkhande Lalit Shiksha Samiti ( Raipur- M.P- 1997) ‘ Vocational excellence Award ’ (Rotary Club, 1995- 96, Bombay) ‘ Mahakal Sanman’ – ( Ujjain- M.P-1993) ‘ Tal Mani ‘ in Swami Haridas Sangeet Sammelan, Sur Singar Samsad, Bombay- 1990 Gold medal in the ‘All India Music competition.’ ‘National Merit Scholarship’ in 1988 for outstanding academic & music achievements all through college where Anuradha majored in English Literature. International Collaborations & Versatility : Anuradha is the founder- musical director of the much acclaimed group Stree Shakti, India's only all female percussion based instrumental and vocal fusion group which has performed extensively in very prestigious festivals in India & UK. Anuradha has also extensively collaborated with musicians of other cultures like the Pan African Orchestra of Ghana in 'Africa & India in conversation', Japanese musicians, Jazz & even Rajasthani Folk musicians, recently even creating new groups like 'Energy' ( Indo- Jazz Fusion) and 'Kala Siddhi' ( Fusion of Carnatic, Jazz, Rajasthani & Hindustani styles of music) Anuradha composed & performed the entire background score using only Tabla & mouth percussion in ‘ Gaja- Gamini ‘ the much acclaimed film by celebrated painter, M. F Husain. The background score was extremely appreciated especially in International film festivals like Cannes, Big Bear etc. Anuradha has directed music for commercial music albums like 'Nirvana’ and ‘Stree Shakti’ which has been highly appreciated. Anuradha has good selling music albums like 'Sheer Magic’, 'Anu’- A Tabla solo', ‘Sensational’, ‘Jugalbandi’ etc featuring her as a Tabla soloist and accompanist, released both in India and abroad. (Source: http://www.anuradhapal.com/biography.htm ) Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.