ABOUT
Gayatri's initial musical training was in Indian classical voice for 14 years from the late Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. She later studied with Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar at the prestigious Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata, and with the late Smt. Lakshmi Shankar in Simi Valley.
She is a professional Hindustani Classical vocalist and has been performing for 18 years. She regularly gives concerts as well as teaches vocal music. She is regularly featured for her unique vocal texture and specialty in TV, Film, and Media. She started working with the San Francisco World Music Festival when she was 7 years old, where she was first exposed to traditional music styles from all over the world. She had the unique opportunity to learn and perform alongside accomplished traditional artists such as Abbos Kosimov, Jhola Techung, Akylbek Serbakaev, John Santos, Wei Wang, Xiaozhen Zhang, Mandjou Kone, and many more. At 18, she participated in the festival's Youth Orchestra, where she took part in teaching, composing, and conducting a piece for a live orchestra of musicians from a diverse group of world traditions.
This sparked her interest to pursue a BA in ethnomusicology from the University of California at Los Angeles. At UCLA, she nurtured her love of world music with her passion for film music and studied Western Classical music theory, film music composition and production, and Jazz theory, having studied under notable musicians such as Paul Chihara, James Newton, and Tamir Hendelman.
She furthered her professional experience working with various composers in Hollywood. She first worked for composer/music supervisor David Ari Leon, where she was a part of a TEDx presentation on music's connection to healing, bringing together accomplished film musicians (composers and session artists) to engage audiences in the practice of participating in music for boosting mental and physical health.
She later worked with A.R. Rahman at Panchathan Hollywood Studios and provided session vocals for his projects, as well as assisted the studio staff in orchestration, vocal production, and audio production, which she continues to do today. She has also worked at Remote Control Productions under Hans Zimmer. She is currently a professional composer and session singer based in Hollywood. Her latest ventures include composing for a film music library company based in the UK called Filmstro, and running a music production company called Chai Time Studios. She continues performing live shows in a wide range of genres and writes her own original music as a recording artist as well.
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