Abhisek Bhadra
Born and bred in Kathmandu, Nepal, Abhisek Bhadra started his musical career in the local jazz and rock scene. Along with his past projects, He won the Rockheads competition and Jazzmandu Jazz for the next generation competition very early in his music career in 2005 and also bagged "The most outstanding musician Award" in the same competition in 2010. During these years Abhisek composed/arranged and played piano and keyboards for local bands like JCS quartet, Jindabaad, All my friends, KJC Big band etc.
In 2012 he moved to Rotterdam, Netherlands to pursue a Bachelor in Jazz Composition/Arranging in Codarts, Rotterdam Conservatorium. Since then his eclectic approach to music has lead him to play and write for bands like Voodrish and Dichter at venues such as Paradiso Amsterdam, Splendor Amsterdam, De Doelen Rotterdam, Amsterdam Concertgebouw and national TV/ Radio shows like DWDD, and 3VOOR12. He has also composed and arranged for established ensembles like the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw under the supervision of Dennis Mackrel(Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and the Count Basie Orchestra), Decaphonics and AKOM ensemble. At the same time he has tried his hands on electronics music by venturing through diverse fields such as contemporary electro-acoustic music to mainstream hip-hop.
He has also been actively involved in music education both in Nepal and abroad. He taught piano/keyboards and led ensembles at The British School, Kathmandu from 2006 to 2012. During his stay in the Netherlands he taught Piano and Music Theory at the Muziekonderwijs community and did guest lectures on composition at the Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. Currently he is the Academic Director at the Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory and also teaches Piano, Theory, Arranging and Composition. He is currently an active performing and composing musician in the Kathmandu music scene working with bands like Jooni, Jindabaad, Cadenza Collective and Le Piro.