João Bittencourt is an accomplished pianist, accordionist, composer, arranger, producer and musical director from Brazil.⁠ João showcased his talent as a composer, musical director and instrumentalist in more than 40 award winning theatrical shows and 10 records over the years years.⁠ He has also composed the soundtrack for the award winning short-film Bodas, which was selected to more than 20 international festivals, including the parallel exhibition from Cannes Festival 2016.⁠

In 2012 he was awarded by the Musical support found by the Cultural Secretariat of Rio de Janeiro to record the CD ‘João Bittencourt Apresenta Julio Reis’. He has studied popular piano/Jazz with Adriano Souza and with Tomás Improta and he has also studied harmony, arranging and orchestration with Itiberê Zwarg. He was also the Vice-Director of the Pro Arte Music Semineries for four years.⁠ João has played and recorded with artists Geraldo Azevedo, Victor Biglione, Itiberâ a Orquestra Família, Thaís Gulim, Yassir Chediak, Moyseis Marques and Marjorie Estiano.⁠

Almudena Díaz-LLanos Longares is a pianist, songwriter, composer from Madrid, Spain. After her under-graduation in Western classical piano in the Valencia Conservatory of Spain, she received a scholarship from Berklee College of Music to develop her project as a Songwriter. ⁠
After finishing her Master’s degree, she received the proposal to travel to Mumbai to work with the acclaimed director Rajat Kapoor, where she created the additional background music for his award-winning movie ¨Kadakh¨.⁠
She has also performed in different festivals and venues. Between her collaborations, we can find artists like Joe Alvares, Anisha Lakshmanan, Abhijit Vaghani, Vaibhav Bundhoo (TVF), Dhaval Kothari, Ripple Drift, diverse musical jazz projects and flamenco, Kathak, folk music with piano, and collaborations with independent filmmakers like Shraddha Bilwal and independent production houses.⁠
At the moment she is based in Delhi, co-directing ¨Silk Road Studios¨ and working in different projects as an arranger, composer and songwriter.⁠

Jay Pei is a New Delhi based producer and DJ who has pioneered his own unique sound, enthralling audiences across India over the years. Building his music and sets upon rhythmic foundations of the 4/4 groove, Jay’s more recent experimentation has been towards integrating cinematic elements into the atmospheric soundscapes of his set. With his use of analog drum machines and synthesisers to lay down the foundation of his tracks and digital devices to integrate the work flow.⁠

⁠Moving with a unique ebb and flow, Jay’s penchant for composing melodies, combined with his intrinsic knowledge of the music that he plays, especially when performing his signature all original set, has propelled Jay and his music to a large audience.⁠

Ujwal is a Hindustani classical vocalist. He received initial training in classical music from his mother Guru Urmila Nagar and has also received intensive training from Late Ustad Bashir Ahmad Khan of Sikar. He is currently taking guidance from Pandit Shriram Umdekar and Pandit Somnath Mardur. He has performed at numerous cities in India and abroad and was also awarded the Sahitya Kala Parishad and Central Government scholarship by Government of India for his relentless pursuit of Indian classical music. Although a purist at heart, Ujwal has enriched his musical pursuit by exploring various other genres of music as well. Most notably, his ongoing collaborative work with the group Advaita has been greatly appreciated by classical music connoisseurs as well as the world music listeners.⁠

Aditya Balani is a multi-faceted guitarist, singer-songwriter, music producer and educator. As GMI’s co-founder & director and an Ableton certified trainer, he constantly strives to develop innovative teaching methodologies. Aditya’s work has been featured on BBC Asia Beats, MTV Coke Studio & BBC Radio to name a few. He has collaborated with artists from around the world including Shubha Mudgal, Khamira, Shilpa Rao, Sudeep Sen, Bellatrix & Mr. Woodnote.⁠

Tarun’s music and artistry has been described as “nothing short of remarkable” (AllAboutJazz, USA) and his debut album, Sacred World has said to “point to the future of jazz in India” (Time Out Magazine, India). Regarded as “one of the finest and most successful jazz drummers and composers to emerge from the country ” (Wild City), with his latest release “Dharma” on Berthold Records, Tarun delivers yet another fearless, imaginative and heartfelt set of music.⁠

⁠An inward and spiritual experience for Tarun, music has had a very special impact on his life, in finding his voice as an artist, and building a career as a composer, performer and an educator. His music is driven by a restless desire to be a holistic artist, and inspired by his Indian roots.⁠

Anirudh Varma is a contemporary pianist, composer, producer & performance studies scholar, based out of New Delhi, India. He is a Grade 8 Pianist, from the Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music. He is the curator & creative director of Delhi based contemporary Indian classical ensemble: The Anirudh Varma Collective. The ensemble curated by Anirudh has been the subject of academic research and writing for students and researchers across the globe. Anirudh’s performance repertoire is unique in nature, since he is equally accomplished in both Indian Classical, Western Classical and Contemporary Music.
He released his debut piano EP, Melancholic Rhapsody in February 2016, and went on to release his full length debut album, ‘Perspectives’, featuring over 65 musicians from across India. Both these records have been released to critical acclaim. He has performed at, The Jaipur Literature Festival 2020, Curtain Raiser Event, Jashn-e-Rekhta 2020 pre event, Calcutta School of Music, Serendipity Arts Foundation and HCL Concerts, amongst many others.⁠

Anhad Khanna is a record producer, sound engineer and a performer based out of New Delhi, India. His approach to music making is deep rooted in a balanced interplay of organic instrumentation and a modern, technology oriented sound palette. Navigating through different sounds, Khanna is a part of Delhi/Durham based duo Anhad + Tanner and also fronts his solo project as Sublime Sound. Anhad’s music has been featured on Times of India, The New Indian Express, Mixmag Asia and Global, Rolling Stone India and many more reputed publications.

As an independent producer and engineer, Anhad’s catalogue varies across a broad spectrum of styles that define his work. From pop to left field electronica, some critically acclaimed credits on his list include ‘Qareeb by Kamakshi Khanna (Produced by Anhad + Tanner)’, ‘2 Degrees by Tarun Balan (Recorded and Engineered)’, ‘Know Me Better [EP] by KAVYA (Produced and Engineered)’. His music has been supported on NTS Radio (UK), Soho Radio (UK), BBC Asian Network, Worldwide FM (UK), Red FM (India).

Priyana Chauhan is a musician, composer, vocalist and educator based in New Delhi, India. She has been⁠ a full time student at the Global Music Institute and has also been awarded scholarship to attend⁠ Berklee College of Music in Boston. As a composer and songwriter, she works on writing and making her⁠ own music which comes from trying to communicate stories and experiences from her life as simply but⁠ eloquently as possible and constantly works at exploring various styles and sounds as an artist. Her⁠
musical influences range all the way from folk, singer-songwriter and country to pop, R&B and jazz.⁠
As a musician she frequently performs all over Delhi NCR and across other cities in the country. She is⁠ part of several projects, and has performed with many popular names in the Delhi music circuit. She also⁠ leads the act ‘Eshaan and Priyana’ along with Eshaan Sood as part of a voice and guitar duo as well as⁠ trio, quartet and quintet settings of the same name. She is currently working on and in the process of⁠
rolling out her original work.⁠

Manojna Yeluri is an artist rights, entertainment and intellectual property rights lawyer. She runs Artistik License – a legal consultancy and platform which addresses the needs of independent artists and creative practitioners. Manojna is also the Asia Regional Representative for PEN America’s Artists at Risk Connection program.⁠

She has spent the past decade working with the creative community, studying and advising on subjects related to music business law, art law, creative entrepreneurship and artistic freedom. Manojna has also been invited to share her learnings at several regional and international conferences including Indiearth Xchange, the Indian Ocean Music Market (IOMMA), the World Music Expo (WOMEX) and the Safe Havens Conference. ⁠

Manojna graduated from the NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad, India and holds a Master of Laws (LLM) in Entertainment, Media and Intellectual Property Rights Law from the UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, USA.⁠

She shuttles between Hyderabad and Bangalore, India where she works out of her home offices.

Luiza Sales is a singer, songwriter, educator and producer from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Luiza holds a Masters Degree in Contemporary Performance from Berklee Valencia and over the last 10 years has performed in Brazil, Europe and India. With the acapella sextet Ordinarius, Luiza recorded two albums and toured in Germany. As a solo artist, Luiza released the albums “Breve Leveza” in 2012 and “Aventureira”, in 2015. In duo with the pianist Pedro Carneiro Silva, Luiza released two albums in 2017 and 2018, and toured Europe with performances in Germany, England, Portugal, Spain, Iceland and Switzerland. She is the creator of the project “Meninas do Brasil”, a YouTube channel with interviews and live sessions presenting female singer-songwriters. Between 2017 and 2018 Luiza taught at Global Music Institute, in India. Currently, Luiza is the Production Manager of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra.

María Fajardo is a Spanish Jazz Vocalist, Educator, and Composer based in Kathmandu, Nepal. She graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2016, where she was a scholarship student. Growing up in different countries in Central America and Spain she was interested in music from a young age. Her academic musical journey took her to Music Academy International (Nancy, France) in 2010 and to Newpark Music Centre in Dublin (now DCU) shortly after. Maria has participated in concerts and workshops in El Salvador, Costa Rica, France, Spain, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Puerto Rico, India, and Nepal among others. She is currently a very active member of the music scene in Kathmandu with various musical projects including the contemporary jazz Jooni, led by her and the pianist/composer Abhisek Bhadra and Ser O Jooni with Chilean musicians Tomas Carrasco and Moa Edmunds. In the last few years, she has participated in the biggest events and festivals in Nepal and released an album with Jooni (2020) and a series of audio-visual works with Ser O Jooni (2022). She is also the Academic Coordinator and Head of the Voice Department at the Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory where continues her journey to make music a vehicle for social change and education, not only by performing but also by teaching and learning, opening doors to a creative and fulfilling environment.

Santiago Barragan Noguera is an international guitarist and composer who has performed in Europe, South America, the United States, and India. Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Santiago moved to France at the age of 18 to study with different teachers at the Conservatory of Nancy. After receiving his diploma with a special mention, he continued his studies at Berklee College of Music. He graduated summa cum laude from Guitar Performance and Jazz composition. Santiago was awarded four years consecutively an award from the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation sponsored by well-known artists such as Enrique Iglesias, Juan Luis Guerra, Miguel Bose, and Carlos Vives. In 2021, Santiago was an equity scholar from Longy School of Music at Bard College in Boston. Currently, he is a voting member of the Latin Recording Academy. Santiago has collaborated with renowned artists such as Noel Schajris, Rosa Passos, Nicole Zignago, Kurt Elling, Maro, Victor Wooten, Jesus Molina, Tigran Hamasyan, Danilo Perez, Kenny Werner, and Domitille Degalle. Some of the guitarists that have been influential in his playing have been Pat Metheny, Tim Miller, John Stowell, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Nelson Veras, Sylvian Luc, Charlie Hunter, Ted Greene, Lenny Breau, Ben Monder, and Joe Pass.

Amira Gill is a Vocalist, Songwriter, and Music Therapist from New Delhi, India. An artist who has always had a distinct, deep vocal timbre – she started her professional music journey at the age of 15 as the lead vocalist of ‘The Incredible Mindfunk’ – an indie band that was truly genre-breaking. Having sung songs with the band that spanned Funk, Soul, Rock, and Jazz – they released their debut album of original music ‘Absolutely Essential’ in June 2013. In 2015 she received two merit-based scholarships to attend the world-renowned Berklee College of Music, Boston where she received her bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy. Through Berklee, following up on her move back to India – Amira’s music and collaborations have been explorative and vast. She has worked as a vocalist and composer for independent albums – the latest being her collaboration with Chennai-based artist Amrit Ramnath, for a multi-lingual EP called ‘JAGO’ that was released in February this year; for internationally acclaimed organizations like the ILO (UN agency), the Azerbaijani Diaspora state Committee on Work, and Facebook’s original sound library; for documentary films such as ‘Child of Empire’ that got nominated for the Sundance Film Festival 2022; and singing for an Indian web series launching on OTT platforms end of 2022 and beginning of 2023. Amira continues to write original music in Hindi and English and has sung in 19 global languages to date. She looks forward to continuing her pan-Indian and global collaborations – creating music that comes from a place of honesty and curiosity.

Performer and educator, Carlos got his B.A. at Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Quito, Ecuador. After a couple of years of performing and teaching locally, he got a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music, where he got his M.M. in Jazz Performance. During his studies, he was part of the Jazz Composers Workshop Orchestra and was an NEC Community Performances and Partnerships Fellow. Carlos has performed and recorded as a collaborator in several singles and albums like “Eternal Youth” by Chris Mondak, and “The 8bit love song” by RichArt! among others. In 2019 he was part of the “Eternal Youth Tour”, where he performed in several venues in Massachusetts, Illinois, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. In 2022 he relocated to Ecuador to teach and perform in places like the Quito Jazz Club, and MusicLab Berklee City Music Global Network, and created new musical projects like the Carlos Heredia Jazz Trio and the Tributo a Los Amigos Invisibles.