Manickam Yogeswaran – Voice, Mdridangam, Kanjira, Venu
Yogeswaran's concerts are marked by a rare blend of virtuosity and creativity combined with the ability to express himself in a wide range of musical genres from classical carnatic music to fusion music from South Asia. He has performed and recorded in many different contexts and also composed music for film. He sang on the soundtracks for Stanley Kubrick's “Eyes Wide Shut”, Spike Lee's “The 25th Hour” and British movie “Brick Lane.” He was featured as a soloist in “Voices Across the World” at the Royal Opera House in London. He performed with the vocal group ' The Shout' at the BBC Proms and the Arts and Ideas Festival (USA) and also performed at WOMAD (UK). He has performed as a soloist with the Bergen National Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony orchestra, Scottish Symphony Orchestra amongst others and also as member of the Dissidenten in Germany. He also performs in Chennai season concerts in South India in December every year.
Alexey Wagner - Guitar
Alexey was born in Barnaul in Siberia. In 2000 he moved to Berlin and studied jazz and popular music at the “Hanns Eisler” conservatory for four years. A virtuoso guitarist, Alexey plays everything from the music of Hector Villa-Lobos through gypsy guitar styles with the Sinti band Lancy Falta, to the heavy riffs of the Russian rock band DDT with consummate ease. He has developed a special affinity for Balkan Music, Flamenco, Brazilian, Cuban and African music. He has performed with Igor Dmitrief, Valerij Kolesnikov, Igor Boiko, Sylvan Luc, Lokua Kwansa, Sandy Lopicic, Lancy Falta, DDT, Uriah Heap, Biréli Lagrène and Valeriu Cascaval amongst others and has toured extensively internationally.
Will Ramsay - Saxophone
The saxophonist Will Ramsay comes from South Africa. He studied music at the CalArts in Los Angeles. He taught at the Federated Union of Black Arts in South Africa, CalArts and directed the world music program at the Hochschule für Musik „Hanns Eisler“. He won the Adolf Grimme Preis for the music for the film „Wheels and Deals“ and a Golden Kite award in Argentina for the music for the animated film „Diriginho Sozinho“. He was the Musical Director for André Hellers Multimedia Show „Afrika! Afrika!“. Apart from his own bands, Groove Politics and Orquésta Chungu, he has worked with musicians like Duke Makase, Vusi Thusi, Lulu Gontsana, Jethro Sasha, Fernando Perreira, Bocato Jr., and Pandit Kamalesh Maitra.
Martin Lillich - Bass
Martin Lillich was born in Bad Boll in Würtemburg and studied contra-bass in Berlin, Weimar and Stuttgart. Apart from the contra-bass Martin is also a master of the electric bass. He is a musical polyglot equally at home in genres as different as classical music, jazz, Turkish, Afro-Cuban and Andalusian music and also speaks five languages fluently. He has shared the stage and the recording studio with musicians like Halil Karaduman, Kenny Wheeler, Al DiMeola, Nikos Theodorakis, Maria Farantouri, Enrico Rava, Wu Wei, Erkan Ogur, Perry Robinson, Benny Bailey, Leszek Mozdzer, Pandit Kamalesh Maitra, Paul Brody, Sema & Taksim, Charlie Mariano and Walter Norris.
Dietrich Woehrlin - Drums
The drummer Dietrich Woehrlin studied music in Los Angeles, Berlin, Ghana and Costa Rica. He is an experienced and versatile multi-percussionist and performs in a number of different genres from Afro-cuban through Afro-Brazilian to African music. He taught drums and percussion at the Hochschule für Music „Hanns Eisler“ in Berlin and currently holds a professorship for drums and percussion in the world music program at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Rostock. He has produced a number of teaching handbooks two of which have become standard works "Rhythm & Body Percussion" and „Latin Compact“.