Musical Background
Naren Budhakar was born in Pune, the cultural capital of western India to a musical family. His father, as a violinist, provided Naren his earliest exposure to Indian classical music. His cousin, Shashikant Purandare, was a lifelong student of the Delhi style of percussion. Naren took his initial lessons with him.
His hometown provided him with many opportunities to listen to great musicians. Naren's own home was welcoming to artists. On one memorable occasion, Ustad Shaikh Dawood, the great tabla wizard visited his household and gave a performance for a handful of family members. Growing up in this rich culture was like a first hand workshop in music appreciation with the masters of Indian classical music.
As a young artist Naren represented his school and college in cultural festivals. He also performed on the Voice of Youth program on Pune radio. He also wrote articles about music that were published in such reputed newspapers as The Times of India and Loksatta.
In America
Since coming to America Naren has pursued his musical career with unrelenting dedication. He further studied with Samir Chatterji , the renowned tabla maestro from Kolkata and Shabbir Nissar, the tabla wizard from Hyderabad and the son of legendary Ustad Shaikh Dawood.
Naren's aesthetic sense allows him to complement his percussion to many different music forms.He has performed with artists from all three categories namely vocal, instrumental and dance music.
Performing with Various Artists
Vocalists Pundit Jasraj, Dr.Alka Deo Marulkar, Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan, Anup Jalota, Terry Riley, La Monte Young
Instrumentalists Pundit Tulsidas Borkar, Krishna Bhatt, Barun Kumar Pal,Ustad Ashish Khan,Pundit Ramesh Mishra,Ulhas Bapat
Dancers Pundit Pratap Pawar, Pundit Satya Narayan Charka, Janaki Patrik, Parul Shah,Uma Dogra
Performing with World-Music
Music is perhaps the best medium for dialogue and harmony amongst different cultures and Naren has contributed his art to various forms of world music that have not only widened his artistic horizons but also have won him friends from many parts of the world- a truly rewarding outcome. Following is a list of some of the world musicians that Naren has performed with:
* Flamenco and Latin percussion With Paulette Beauchamp and Carlos Bedoya and their DanzActiva dance company in Puerto Rico.
* Gazhal-a modern interpretation Kiran Ahluwalia, the Juno award winning singer has interpreted gazhal in her innovative contemperory approach. Naren has toured with her in Canada from coast to coast.
* Christian devotional music With Chris Hale and Pete Hick.
* Irish-Celtic With Frankie Gavin,the violinist from Ireland and his celebrated band De Dannen
* Other worldly 'Wyld Olde Souls' the New York based funk-eclectic band (Rick, Ivy and Marlene) playing music 'from the astral planes'.
* Jazz Reverend Kim Leslie,the Jazz singer from U.K. now based in New York and Warren Rosenstein, the Jazzhole torchbearer.
* Alms for Shanti Formerly 'Rock machine' and 'Indus Creed', this successful rock band from India fronted by Uday Benegal and Jayesh Gandhi has been rocking the New York clubs with their new incarnation Alms for Shanti. Naren has been a regular tabla player for the band making his tabla beats heard from Kenyan college in Ohio to Harborfront festival in Toronto to Wall street in New York.
Performing at Various Venues
Naren has performed at following prominent places among others:
In New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Rubin Museum of Art, Damrosch park( Lincoln Center), Asia Society, N.Y.U.,Aaron Davis hall, Jiva Mukti Yoga center,Hindu Temple, Sufi Abode, Interfaith Church, Church of Saint John the divine, Washington Square Church,Fashion Institute of Technology, I.T.V.- the Indian television channel,Hotel Hilton.
Consulate of India, New York.
Other Venues:
San Juan and Ponce in Puerto Rico, Folk festivals in Canada from east coast to west coast, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Haverford University, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Bridgeport University; Connecticut, Keystone College; Pochonos, Cornell University; Ithaca.
Yoga anMeditation retreats
Anandashram, Omega Institute, Jiva Mukti yoga instititute, Shivananda Ranch