ROOTS, MINIATURES AND PRELUDES: Solo Piano Concerts by Indian composers Nipun Cheema and Vivek Santosh

We welcome Indian pianist-composers Nipun Cheema (Chandigarh) and Vivek Santhosh (Bangalore) to Courtyard Koota for two unique solo piano performances of their music.

Vivek Santhosh is an experimental jazz and contemporary pianist based in Bangalore. A classically trained pianist with an LTCL (Licentiate of Trinity College London) Diploma Certificate, Vivek is also a Carnatic musician with a Masters Degree. He was fascinated by progressive and improvised musical forms and later started exploring these. His flair and unique expression come through very clearly in his composition and improvisation, with the influence of Indian music unmistakeable in his sound.

Formed in 2014, his trio has performed regularly in clubs, music festivals and private events across the country. This concert will feature his compositions in a solo setting for the first time, in a set called 'Roots'. 

Nipun Cheema completed his piano grades with ABRSM and Rockschool followed by diploma in choral singing, accordion and jazz piano at a French conservatory, and later MA Music (Ethnomusicology) at Cardiff University. He is currently teaching at the Colab Piano Studio Chandigarh, where he curates concert events and produces his original piano music. His current musical interests are jazz piano technique, and folk accordion of the ex-Soviet countries.

The concert will feature his new set of original compositions for solo piano collectively called ‘Preludes’, a follow-up to his 2021 album ‘Miniatures’.