Crystal Lighthouse Productions plans to present the Women's Music Festival on March 28th and 29th during Women's History Month in 2026. We aim to curate a festival that showcases the talents of women artists and raises awareness and support for various initiatives. This festival is dedicated to Padma Shri Pta. Tripti Mukherjee's tremendous efforts in making the beautiful and sacred art of Indian classical music accessible to students in the United States. All are welcome to attend in person or online.

Please read on to know more about the following:

Dedication
Program
Artists and Speakers
Organizations We Love and Support
Frequently Asked Questions

Dedication

This festival is dedicated to Padma Shri Pta. Tripti Mukherjee's tremendous efforts in making the beautiful and sacred art of Indian classical music accessible to students in the United States. Pta. Tripti Mukherjee is an Indian-American classical vocalist. She belongs to the Mewati Gharana. She is the founder and director of the Pandit Jasraj Institute for Music Research, Artistry, and Appreciation in New Jersey. Pta. Tripti Mukherjee has been teaching Indian Classical Music to students in the United States for the past three decades.

Program

Day 1: Saturday, March 28, 2026, 11:00 am to 5 pm
11:00 am: Welcome remarks, Keynote by Ibha Kumar, Opening prayer by Jayashri Nagaraja
12:30 - 1:30 pm: Miral Vaghela, Vocal
2:00 - 3:00 pm: Camila Celin, Sarod
3:30 - 4:45 pm: Anindita Roy, Vocal

Day 2: Sunday, March 29, 2026, 11:00 am to 5 pm
11:00 am- Noon: TBD
Noon: Welcome remarks
12:15 - 1:30 pm: Devika Thakkar, Payal Banerjee, Vandana Govindan, Vocal
2:00 - 3:00 pm: Megha Rawoot, Sitar
3:30 - 5:00 pm: Monica Joshi, Vocal

We are grateful for all the artists who will accompany the women artists listed above.

Tabla: Ehren Hanson, Mir Naqibul Islam, Chinmay Paranjape, Ravi Venugopalan

Harmonium: Rohan Prabhudesai, Shailesh Chirputkar

Sarangi: Rohan Misra

Artists and Speakers

Ibha Kumar

Senior executive in the Financial Services Industry.

Jayashri Nagaraja

Jayashri Nagaraja, a student of Hindustani Classical Music at the Pandit Jasraj Institute of Music and Artistry, the Mewati Gurukul. Under this Gurukul, Jayashri feels fortunate to be under the Grace and Chhatra-Chhaya of Guruji, Padmashri Honored Pandita Tripti Mukherjee Ji and Bade Guruji, Sangeet Martand Padma Vibhushan Pandit Jasraj Ji.

Growing up in a musical family immersed in Carnatic music in Chennai, Jayashri was introduced to Hindustani and Western classical music by her father and has dabbled in both. Jayashri is a faculty at the Pandit Jasraj Institute and also deejays Sangeet, an Indian classical music show on WPRB in Princeton.

Miral Vaghela

Miral Vaghela, a student of Hindustani Classical Music in Mewati Gharana tradition has been pursuing her musical journey in Pandit Jasraj Institute of Music and Artistry, the Mewati Gurukul. Miral feels fortunate to be under the Grace and Chhatra-Chhaya of this Gurukul, and Guruji, Padmashri Honored Pandita Tripti Mukherjee Ji. Under the auspices of her Guruji, she has realized that this journey of learning Music is a life-long journey and a comprehensive process of learning which is not limited to Music, but about life and beyond. Miral is under the able guidance of Adyashree Lalita Mathur Ji as well in the Gurukul.

She believes music is the language of God and connects with the divine in an instant. Music is extremely healing for her and a beautiful way to connect with people, spread joy and happiness. A proud Mewati, Miral, has an inclination towards light classical music such as Bhajans, Haveli Sangeet too. Miral works full time in the IT industry. Apart from coding and singing, she finds cooking very therapeutic.

Camila Celin

Camila Celin, born in Bogota, Colombia, is a musician, composer, producer, a co-founder of Brooklyn Raga Massive (a music collective that has employed thousands of musicians), and director and founder of RASA, an events production and music curation company. Camila is a captivating performer who has a steadily growing fan base in NYC and beyond.

Celin has been playing guitar for 30 years. Over the last 15 years, she has been intensely studying Indian music with some of India's finest maestros. Celin has two GRAMMY nominations for collaborative works in the New Age Music and World Music categories.

Devika Thakkar, Vandana Govindan, Payal Banerjee

Devika Thakkar, Vandana Govindan, and Payal Banerjee are students at the Pandit Jasraj Institute for Music Research, Artistry, and Appreciation, the Mewati Gurukul, an international institution that provides instruction in North Indian classical vocal music. In this Mewati Gurukul, they are under the Grace and Chhatra-Chhaya of Bade Guruji, Sangeet Martand Padma Vibhushan Pandit Jasraj Ji, and the auspices of Guruji, Padma Shri Pandita Tripti Mukherjee Ji. At the institute, they learn the sacred art of Indian classical music from various world-renowned artists and music educators.

Before joining the Pandit Jasraj Institute, Devika studied music under the guidance of Pt. Askaran Sharma and Pt. Vinayak Kunte. A gifted vocalist known for her soulful renditions, Devika performs in concerts and collaborates with musicians on live and recorded projects. She specializes in singing Sanskrit Chants and is drawn to this genre because of the meaningful lyrics of Sanskrit verses and the peaceful vibrations created by chanting them. She believes in the potential of the classical arts to spark self-discovery and create harmony within oneself, with everyone around, and in the world.

Vandana Govindan started learning Hindustani classical music at a very young age during her school days in Delhi from Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra and Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. At the Pandit Jasraj Institute, both Vandana and Payal have been nurtured by AadyaShree Lalita Mathur ji, and they have deep respect and affection for her. Vandana has been teaching music to beginners and little kids through the institute and enjoys the process of imparting this knowledge. She believes that music lives in her every breath and enjoys it. It is an integral part of her being!

Payal Banerjee started her music journey when she was three years old. Her grandmother is her first Guru. Payal is a yoga practitioner and instructor for adults and children. She believes in teaching yoga to children to inculcate good habits and values in them.

Special sharing about Guruji Padma Shri Pta. Tripti Mukherjee by Devika Thakkar: My Guruji took care of me during my first pregnancy by being there for me in so many ways throughout that important period of my life. She consistently fed me nutritious and delicious home-cooked food. All this while teaching me unbelievably divine, melodious, soul-soothing, and uplifting music. For example, Guruji Tripti ji would make dry-fruit smoothies for me and keep them in the fridge so that when I reached our Gurukul, I could open the fridge and have my smoothie! After that, I would attend the music lessons. After the lesson, we would all eat dinner together. Guruji would have delicious dal, vegetables, quinoa, and salad for us.

To give some context, I came to the US from Mumbai to pursue a Master's in Computer Science and had worked at tech companies such as Yahoo!, Amazon, and Microsoft before embarking on my music education journey at the Pandit Jasraj Institute. I was living in the US with my husband, while everyone else in my immediate family was in Mumbai, India. My mother and sister travelled to the US to be with me in time to welcome my first baby, and my mother, Mrs. Gauri Kshirsagar, was with me before, during, and after my delivery for both my children.

During both my pregnancies, I was learning music at the Pandit Jasraj Institute. Guruji Tripti ji and the music community at the Pandit Jasraj Institute took care of me as if I were their daughter. Both my baby showers were organized and celebrated by my music family under Guruji Tripti ji's guidance. When I look back, all of this seems like a dream. Receiving all this care, thoughtfulness, and abundance of love from the entire community had a very deep impact on my life. I am incredibly grateful for the care and love I received during such delicate and significant times in my life, and I thank Guruji Tripti ji from the bottom of my heart for everything she did to nurture me.

Anindita Roy

Anindita is a versatile and accomplished vocalist with an extensive background in diverse genres of Indian music, including Hindustani Classical, Semi-Classical, Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Geeti, and modern Hindi/Bengali music. Born into a musical family in West Bengal, her journey began under the tutelage of her grandfather, Sri Nitya Gopal Roy, a respected music teacher. She later trained in Hindustani Classical music under Professor Achintya Roy Chowdhury of Kolkata, a senior disciple of Ustad Amir Khan Sahib of Indore Gharana.

After moving to the United States, Anindita became a disciple of Padmashree Pandita Tripti Mukherjee, the senior-most disciple of Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj Ji and founder of the Pandit Jasraj Institute of Music and Research in the USA.

Anindita began performing from a young age, earning accolades at various inter-college and district-level competitions. She has since graced prestigious stages across India and the United States with her expressive and deeply emotive performances.

Passionate about nurturing a love for music in others, Anindita founded the Alankaar School of Music in 2015, where she currently serves as the Artistic Director. She also serves on the faculty of the Pandit Jasraj Institute of Music, New Jersey, New York,Pittsburgh. She used to be a faculty member of Kalabhavan of Houston Durgabari Society till 2024, where she taught contemporary music.

Through her teaching, she aims to bridge cultural and generational gaps, offering instruction in Hindustani Classical, Semi-Classical, Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Geeti, and modern Hindi/Bengali music.

Anindita's approach to teaching is rooted in compassion and connection. Her training in Western music helps her relate to younger students while emphasizing core principles of voice training, rhythm, notation, and musical understanding. She believes music education builds confidence and empowers students to express themselves creatively. She remains committed to inspiring and cultivating the next generation of Indian-American musicians.

Beyond her professional life, Anindita is a devoted wife and mother to two daughters.

Megha Rawoot

Megha Rawoot is a Mumbai based sitar player. She is a disciple of Sitar Maestro Purbayan Chatterjee. She has been playing sitar since 2009. She has taken the training in sitar from Mrs. Deepti Mishra and pt. Madan Shankar Mishra also. She is an awardee of National scholarship for junior category in the field of sitar by CCRT, ministry of culture and an awardee of Scholarship for young artist in the same field by Ministry of culture.

She has performed on National and International stages. Some well known venues and events in India she performed are Nehru Centre (Mumbai), India Habitat Centre (New Delhi), NMACC (Mumbai), Dhonno Dhanyo (Kolkata), Harman Palm Expo India (Mumbai) etc. She has toured in USA, Russia, China and Thailand for her solo Indian Classical concerts and with the Classicool band (led by Sitar Maestro Purbayan Chatterjee).

From the last few years she has been collaborating with well known artists, musicians and bands, like Salim-Sulaiman, Abhijit Vaghani, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Bhoomi Trivedi, Gayatri Asokan etc. exploring and welcoming new genres of music other than Indian Classical Music.

Monica Joshi

Smt. Monica Joshi has pursued music from the young age of 9 years and she has earned a Masters of Arts and Sangeet Alankaar in Music. She has got her initial training in Gwalior gharana. After moving to the USA, she has been learning music from Padma Shri awardee, Guru Pandita Tripti Mukherjee of Mewati gharana.

She has been teaching music in the NJ area for the last 20 years under the banner of Dinkar Sangeet.

Emcees

Anna Gao
Camden Kim
Dia Thakkar
Martina Catino

Anna Gao, Camden Kim, and Dia Thakkar are middle schoolers at New Explorations in Science, Technology, and Math in New York City. Martina Catino is a high school student at Hunter College High School in New York City.

Organizations We Love and Support

National Park Foundation, The Official Charitable Partner of the National Park Service
National Public Radio (WNYC), NPR - Breaking News, Analysis, Music, Arts & Podcasts
Caring Kind, CaringKind - The Heart of Alzheimer's Caregiving

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What can I expect at this festival?

2. Can I attend a single performance?
Yes.

3. Can men attend this festival?
Yes. Although the name of this event is "Women's Music Festival", it is open to all. Everyone is welcome to attend and listen to the performers. Among the performing artists, we have women artists who will be accompanied by male artists on tabla, harmonium, sarangi, etc. This is NOT an "ONLY WOMEN" event. Please join us at the Women's Music Festival.