Indialucia – an international musical project led by flamenco guitar player Miguel Czachowski; one of the first bands that have successfully combined the classical music of India with Flamenco, from Andalusia, giving concerts all over the world since 1999. The members of the project include many outstanding musicians from Poland, India, Italy and Spain.
Their concert repertoire expresses both the human and musical fusion of these cultures, making the audiences experience a stimulating blend of those extremely rich cultural traditions. Improvisation and rhythm are the common elements in both styles and are essential to their continued existence, keeping them alive and permeable to new influences. Additionally to the traditional elements of Indian and Flamenco music, the sound of Indialucia is enriched by jazz piano, bass guitar, flute and dance. In 2016 they started touring with classical orchestras, exploring a new dimension of symphonic music.
They released two award-winning albums, Indialucia and Acatao. Both of them received the award as second best album of the year by Polish Radio. The music was used as a soundtrack for the American movie The Boondock Saints II.
The group has performed in almost thirty countries, including most European countries, Asia, and North and South America. They performed in USA, Canada, Russia, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Spain, France, Andorra, Italy, Germany, Austria, UK, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Luxemburg, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Finland, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, India and Singapore.
They have played and recorded with many renowned artists such as Trilok Gurtu, Jorge Pardo, Paquito González, L. Subramaniam, Purbayan Chatterjee, Domingo Patricio, Leszek Możdżer, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Kavita Krishnamurti and others.
We are primarily a quartet, but there are few more artists that often integrate in our shows, who’s contribution heightens the performance, namely: the iconic sounds of the fretless bass guitar, silver and bansuri flute, jazz piano as well as the enthralling Flamenco or Kathak dance.
Miguel CZACHOWSKI (Poland) – flamenco guitar
Born in Poland in 1974 in a family of flamenco lovers where he was raised in a flamenco music environment. At the age of 12 he began learning to play the guitar. After an initial classical education, he took master classes from flamenco professional players as Rafael Cortés, Salva del Real and Gerardo Nuñez in Poland and Spain which made him completely dedicated to flamenco. In 1992 he formed a flamenco group gradually extending the numbers of the artists from a duo to septet. Performing solo and also with his band Miguel won first prizes in many Polish folk festivals and is now leading flamenco player in his country. For several years he teaches flamenco guitar and publishes articles and interviews propagating flamenco music in magazines as “Flamenco International Magazine”, “Jazz Forum”, “Top Guitar” and “Świat Gitary”. In 1998 after performing in Italy he was invited to India to teach flamenco guitar at the Academy of Music and Fine Arts in Nagpur. There he started studying Indian music learning to play the sitar under the guidance of Avaneendra Sheolikar. In October 2019 Miguel was honoured with Golden Eropea – European Award for artistic and cultural activities by European Union of Arts.
Leo VERTUNNI (Italy) – sitar
Born in London in 1989, in a family of artists devoted to Indian culture and spirituality; therefore, has been in touch with Indian classical music since childhood. He grew up taking part in his family’s theatre and musical productions. Later he undertook academic studies in Indology and Indian music, gaining an honours BA degree at the University of Bologna and a Master’s degree in Indian Music Performance at the SOAS University of London. He studied the technique of sitar and the practice of Indian classical improvisation from renowned masters such as Pt. Avaneendra Sheolikar, Ust. Dharambir Singh, Ust. Mehboob Nadeem and presently from Ust. Irshad Khan. As a performer Leo has been working in a number of projects (Indialucia, Jugalbandi trio, Seven Eyes, Divine Symphony Orchestra) and as a session musician for many more, touring extensively in Europe, North America, and also having performed in South America, Asia, and Africa. Leo Vertunni is a teaching fellow at the Conservatory “A. Pedrollo” of Vicenza.
Manish MADANKAR (India) – tabla
Experienced tabla player who has performed throughout India, in Europe, China, Singapore and Russia. He is a versatile percussionist as a solo performer, as an accompanist for instrumental music, vocals, kathak dance, fusion music and orchestral music, boasting several contributions in the Bollywood film industry and in Indian TV programs such as D.D. National Channel and Indian Classical Music Channel (InSync Channel). Dedicated to the study of the instrument from a very young age, he learned from the main exponents of the tabla including Pandit Sandesh Popatkar of Nagpur and the famous Pandit Yogesh Samsi of Mumbai. In 2007 he obtained a Master’s degree in tabla at the Music Department of the Indira Kala Sangit University of Khairagarah and in 2010 a post-master’s degree in instrument at the same university. Since October 2020 he has held the position of tabla teacher in the Department of Traditional Music at the ‘Arrigo Pedrollo’ Conservatory of Music in Vicenza.
Isaac PEÑA GONZALEZ (Spain) – percussion, cajón
Born in Seville, Andalusia, in 1973, in a musical and inspiring environment that takes him at age 8 to express him singing and dancing. At age 17 he begins professionally as a drummer. Studied Classical Percussion at the Manuel Castillo Seville Conservatory. He plays for many years the most popular flamenco instrument, the cajón (introduced and popularized in flamenco by Paco de Lucía). He collaborates and accompanies the best artists of Spain such as Ecos del Rocío, Papa Levante, Alba Molina, Pascual González, Cantores de Híspalis, María de la Colina, Marta Quintero, Mantequita Colorá, Sal Marina, Raíces Jazz Trio or Jorge Pardo, as well as in other bands of Jazz, Blues, Rock, Folk, Caribbean or Afro.
With the music and theater company “La Tarasca”, he includes the transverse flute in his percussion set. He has toured around the world and in parallel is experienced as a pedagogue, and in business management resulting in 2011, the opening of his school of music and yoga “Spacio y Ritmo”, which he directs, in his homeland.
Giridhar UDUPA (India) – ghatam, konnakol, kanjira
Born into a family of music and literature in 1979, was tutored initially by his father Vidwan Nagendra Udupa from the age of 4. Started giving concerts at the tender age of 12; has given concerts under the auspices of prestigious Sabhas all over India and abroad. Performs on various percussion instruments like the ghatam, mridangam, morsing, khanjira and renders konnakol. Apart from playing authentic Carnatic Classical Music, has performed in many Fusion, Jazz, World music and Jugalbandhi concerts and has been part of numerous International Music Festivals with renowned Indian Musicians like Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shivkumar Sharma, Dr.L.Subramaniam, Pandit Jasraj, Niladri Kumar, Shankar Mahadevan, Trilok Gurtu, Ranjit Barot and Kavita Krishnamurthy and Western musicians like John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell, Airto Moreira, Hubert Laws and others. Has been working with many leading film music directors. He has received many prestigious prizes and played concerts in US, Spain, Canada, France, Switzerland, Germany, Oman and Kuwait.
A flamenco dancer with an education in psychology. She began her adventure with dance as a child in the modern dance troupe. After several years of searching, her real passion turned out to be oriental and gypsy dance techniques. She took her first steps in flamenco dance school “Alejandra”. During the last 20 years, she was the main dancer in the well-known dance troupes: “Danza del Fuego”, “Viva Flamenco!”, “Los Bomberos”, “Tanto Flamenco” and “Rumbero Flamenco”. As part of dance troupes, she has appeared in many dance, guitar, and folk festivals. In 2003, she received a scholarship at the Juan Polvillo Escuela Flamenca in Seville.
Festival of Inner Peace (USA)
Ollin Kan (Mexico)
Singapore Sun Festival (Singapore)
“Bristol Harbour Festival” (UK)
Outside the Box (USA)
Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival (India)
M.A.D. Festival (India)
Jodhpur Flamenco & Gypsy Festival (India)
Helsinki Festival (Finland)
International Guitar Festival (Belarus),
Trigon Jazz Festival (Moldova)
Euro Med Festival (Hungary)
Veranos de la Villa (Spain)
Festival Flamenco in Bratislava(Slovakia),
Festival Flamenco in Prague (Czech Republic)
Festival dello Spirito (Italy)
Oropesa Summer Festival (Spain)
Silesian Guitar Autumn (Poland)
Lincoln Center (New York),
Skirball Center (New York),
Eisemann Centre Theatre (Dallas),
Herbst Theatre (San Francisco),
Lisner Auditorium (Washington, D.C.),
The Egg (Albany),
Harris Theater (Chicago),
University of Toronto (Canada)
Royal Albert Hall (London),
National Theatre (London),
Templo de Debod in Madrid,
Esplanade Theater (Singapore),
AKG Hall in Trivandrum (India),
Kamaraj Auditorium in Madras (India),
Teatro di Vicenza (Italy),
Cemal Resit Rey (Istambul),
Philharmony of Kazan (Russia)