ANDOVER, MA—Valentino Almeida, the singer and the organizer of the Diwali musical evening to raise fund for Shri Dwarkamai Temples on Saturday in Andover, MA, gave a perfect rendition of Kishor Kumar medley songs, but New Hampshire singer Neha Varma stole the show with her “Namak Ishq Ka” from 2006 Bollywood film Omkara.
Ms. Varma’s pitch, rendition, pure enunciation of words and display of emotions (on Namak Ishq Ka) landed perfectly on the audience’s hearts and minds. Mr. Almeida truly represented Kishor Kumar medley songs from the yester years and instantly won the hearts of the audience. Suzana Naik kept her trademark bubbly and cheerful outlook throughout. Parag Joshi, former New Englander and current resident of Florida, presented several songs, including from Kuchh Mere Dil Ne Kaha to Ae Dil Hai Muskil.
The solo performances were intermingled with several duets. The live band made the evening memorable.
To watch a glimpse, please click here, or on the image below.
“The Diwali musical night was an unforgettable experience. The live music brought a wave of nostalgia, blending classic hits with contemporary favorites,” said Praveen Misra, emcee of the evening. “The captivating atmosphere kept the audience immersed, celebrating the heart and soul of Bollywood. It was so good to Listen live our local Kishore Kumar Valentino after so many years. All songs were great and enjoyed listening all super talented singers.”
See below bios of performers:
Shridhar Ganapuram – Drums and Rhythms
Shridhar Ganapuram is a software engineer by profession and has been a part of the greater Boston music scene since 2007. He loves to play Drums, Congas & various other instruments. He is always on the quest to learn more and contribute to society with his passion towards music”
Bharat Lagu – Percussionist
Bharat has learned Tabla but enjoys collecting and playing many percussion instruments. At the last count, he has over 80 musical instruments. He refers to this collection as his mid-life revelation, some call it his mid-life crisis.
Angshuman Parashar – Bass Guitar
“Angshu”, the band’s unflappable bassist, lays down the low-end grooves that’ll make you move whether you want to or not. Some say he chose the bass guitar after losing high-frequency sonic perception from one too many ear-splitting rock concerts, but Angshu insists it’s all about providing the sonic foundation that most folks don’t notice… until it’s gone. Just don’t mess up the timing, or you’ll face Angshu’s wrath—a truly terrifying experience. He may be all about love for his bandmates, but his passion for precision is unmatched.
Nikhil Pendharkar – Keyboards
Nikhil has been an integral part of various Hindi and Marathi concerts around the New England area for past 20 years. He is the Lead keyboard player for popular local band “Aaroh” and considers himself very fortunate to have accompanied maestros like Suresh Wadkar Ji, Shridhar Padke Ji and Roshan Bharti Ji during their Boston area concerts. Nikhil feels blessed to be part of this wonderful group of Musicians who are performing tonight in support of Shri Dwarkamai Sai temple.
Vibhas Paranjpe – Keyboards
Vibhas has played the keys for many local community and charity events in the Boston area for the past 7 years. He learns from Mumbai zee marathi sa re ga ma ‘s esteemed keyboard player – Satyajit Prabhu (Sattu).
Amal Baluchandar – Light Engineer
Amal Baluchandar, is a high school student who resides in Lexington MA. Amal is a Bharatanatyam dancer trained by his mother Kalpana Baluchandar and had his dance arangetram last August. Amal wants to learn the technical aspects stage events to complement his dance skills and is learning sound and light engineering under the guidance of Jawed Wahid.
Ashish Panse – Drums and Rhythms
Ashish Panse started learning tabla in Pune under the guidance of Pt. Shantilal Shah. On coming to the US, picked up playing different percussions in a new band. When he moved to Massachusetts in 2012, he joined the cultural scene here with NEMM and have been playing with different groups since then.
Manish Kurup – Lead Guitar
Manish has played guitar since his college days and has been a visible fixture of the greater Boston metro area. He has contributed to many fun musical endeavors during his time here, the most notable being “AAROH Boston”, a popular band. His musical influences range from Jazz, Progressive/Classic Rock, Metal, Carnatic and now Indian pop music (Bollywood and all things Indian). When not entertaining audiences he build semiconductors for the tech industry.
Valentino Almeida – Organizer and Singer
Valentino has a Ph.D. in Chemistry and is a Pharmaceutical Scientist by profession. He is very passionate about music and received his diploma in music from the University of Mumbai. Since then, has been singing and performing for several years on stage and in studios. In the New England area, Valentino is well known singer, who has performed for several charity events, singing competitions, radio programs. Recently Valentino has started his own YouTube channel that is gaining quick popularity where he has released several new compositions and cover albums. He is super excited to enthrall his audiences with his performance tonight and support a great cause at the same time!
Parag Joshi – Singer
With his unique singing style, Parag brings a passion for music that resonates with everyone. Coming from a family where music runs deep, Parag was informally trained by his late uncle Shri Kedar Kulkarni, who taught him the important nuances of singing. He has performed at numerous events in the greater Boston area and in Florida and served as a trainer at the ACA (Shankar Mahadevan Academy). Thriving on constantly pushing his boundaries, Parag loves to regale audiences with heartfelt stories through his music, drawing from an eclectic mix of influences. He couldn’t be more thrilled to be here tonight!
Suzana Naik – Singer
Suzana Naik has been described as bubbly, cheerful and extremely passionate about everything she does.Her one passion is singing. She has been singing and performing since her childhood and continues to sing at various fundraisers and charitable events in the US and in India. Her stage presence and joyful singing has created a loyal fan-following for her. Suzana is a student of Hindustani classical music and continues her training under the expert guidance of her gurus, Smt. Kumkum Sanyal and Shri Vikas Parikh. Suzana’s main passion and her profession, however, is Wealth and Financial Advisory and Planning. She is a wealth advisor and portfolio manager with Morgan Stanley and has an ever-increasing fan base (albeit for different reasons) here too. Suzana lives in Ashland, MA with her biggest fan, Ani (who is her husband too)
Neha Varma – Singer
Neha Varma is a SaReGaMaPa finalist which was judged by the famous composer duo Ajay-Atul. She is trained in Hindustani classical and semi-classical music and performs in shows all over the US. Just last year, she travelled across 13 US cities within a month, with a team from India, to perform in conceptual shows on Lata Mangeshkar and Sahir Ludhiyanvi. She has also shared stage with renowned playback singer Suresh Wadkarji. She has recorded songs for several movies and albums in multiple languages such as Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Kannada.
Sonal Limbachia – Singer
Sonal Limbachia hails from Anand Gujarat and resides with her husband and daughter in Medway, MA. Sonal has performed at several shows over the last few years. Sonal enjoys singing Gujarati Garba Folk songs, old and new Bollywood songs. Sonal has competed in several singing competitions and was the first-place winner at the IANH competition and a finalist in the 3iii Competition. Sonal runs a private musical group, Sur Milan, with Jawed.
Jawed Wahid – Sound Engineer
Jawed Wahid, a much sought-after sound engineer, has been providing sound engineering for music events in the New England area for over 20 years. His expertise includes Classical Music, Bollywood music, stage plays, dance programs, and arangetrams. Jawed has a background in Electrical Engineering and has a certificate in Sound Engineering from the Berklee School of Music in Boston. Jawed runs a private musical group, Sur Milan, with Sonal that hosts a monthly music night to encourage local singers.
