About Us
Overview
Established in 2002, the Taalim School of Indian Music is a premier Tabla school and Indian performing arts organization based in Edison, New Jersey with operations in the tri-state area.
Guided by world renowned Indian rhythm maestro, Guru of “Taalvidya”, and teacher of spirituality Guruji Pandit Divyang Vakil, we offer formal instruction in Indian classical percussion Tabla and North Indian classical dance Kathak to students of all ages and experience levels through its unique teaching pedagogy which is a modern adaptation of the traditional guru-shishya parampara (teacher-student tradition).
Online and in-person lessons at Taalim are skillfully conducted by our experienced faculty who are equally adept at delivering entertaining workshops and assemblies for children, K-12 outreach, and master classes and residencies for colleges and universities. Moreover, Taalim’s artists have toured across the globe while showcasing their productions at notable locations worldwide. Their expertise spans from creating feature-length productions for large audiences to intimate house concerts for classical enthusiasts. Their diverse experience and versatility in performance allow them to cater to a wide range of audiences and events with their unique offerings.
Taalim faculty and staff
Guru - Pandit Divyang Vakil
Pandit Divyang Vakil (known as Guruji, or “respected teacher”) is a tabla guru, Indian rhythm composer, and teacher of philosophy. His expansive experience of over 35 years as a guru has produced innumerable music professionals.
Guruji becomes immensely involved in the process of teaching and understands each of his students on a personal level as he guides them in their musical journey. No compromise is permitted when it comes to the musical progression and advancement of the student. Balancing the traditional guru-shishya parampara with the modern society, he has developed his own teaching pedagogy for tabla for today’s student. All of the teachers at Taalim have received training on how to teach in this methodology from him.
Jin Won
South Korean artist Jin Won is an accomplished kathak dancer, tabla player, and music educator.
Her love of Indian arts led her to live in India for over 15 years before joining the Taalim School as a faculty member and artist. She is a tabla disciple of Pandit Divyang Vakil, and studied kathak under Shrimati Shubha Desai. While in India, she also worked with leading kathak choreographers, including Pandit Birju Maharaj, Shrimati Kumudini Lakhia, Shrimati Saswati Sen, and Maulik Shah & Ishira Parikh. Her unconventional journey has been the subject of a documentary by the Korean Broadcasting Service and serves as an inspiration to many.
Her passion is to spread Indian classical arts. In this aim, she has authored a textbook on tabla, which is currently being translated into Korean. Committed to her students’ growth, Jin is known as a firm, yet amicable teacher.
Praised by the NY Times as “an exuberant dancer whose musicality transform[s] her dancing into something primal," dancer and percussionist Jin Won is a one-of-a-kind artist in the field of Indian performing arts who explores the sonic and visual possibilities of rhythm through dance and music. An accomplished Kathak dancer and tabla player of South Korean origin, she spent over 15 years in India training in Indian classical percussion and dance under Pandit Divyang Vakil and Shrimati Shubha Desai, respectively.
As artistic director of Pradhanica Dance and Music Company, Jin has created, choreographed, and starred in various ensembles that have performed in esteemed venues across North America, as well as taught master classes and workshops in many arts institutes.
Mike Lukshis
Mike Lukshis has dedicated his life to the study and growth of Indian classical tabla through performance, teaching, and community building. He is accomplished as a solo artist as well as in accompaniment to Indian classical dance and instrumental music. Over the last decade, Michael has performed in venues across the United States, Canada, Mexico, and India. In addition, he has taught hundreds of students of all ages and backgrounds as well as conducted assemblies, lectures, and master classes in schools and universities all over the United States.
From the very beginning, Mike has been trained exclusively under Pandit Divyang Vakil and has the rare opportunity to live in a Gurukal style setting where the student lives under constant guidance and supervision of their Guru to provide the most intimate training.
Mike's experience in performing goes beyond tabla solo, kathak dance accompaniment, and Indian classical music accompaniment. He has also performed with many American based rock and pop bands as well as ensembles of Iranian, bluegrass, Western classical, jazz, Jewish, and other genres. His performances have brought him to prestigious venues including Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, State Theatre New Jersey, McCarter Theatre, and the NRG Stadium in Houston, TX.
Kaumil Shah
Ahmedabad native Kaumil Shah’s identity is shaped by tabla. Prior to joining the Taalim School, he was a tabla teacher and performing artist with Rhythm Riders in India. Aside from teaching tabla at the Taalim School, he is a member of Taalim tabla groups, and plays djembe with dance & world drum ensemble Pradhanica.
A disciple of Pandit Divyang Vakil, Shah has travelled the world performing tabla with celebrated ensemble Talavya, performing at Ciudad de las Ideas (Mexico), Percussive Arts Society International Convention, INK Conference (formerly TEDIndia), Vancouver Island Musicfest, and more. Album credits include two Talavya releases – Tabla Ecstasy and Power of Tabla. Shah is also a multi-percussionist with fusion band Taan.
Sejal Kukadia
Sejal Kukadia is originally from upstate NY, and is a disciple of Pandit Divyang Vakil. Sejal is the author of Tabla Taalim: A Study in North Indian Percussion. As a member of the Middle Eastern Sephardic music band, Divahn, based in NYC, Sejal has traveled throughout the country spreading the art of tabla to non-Indian audiences. Sejal is one of very few female tabla artists in the USA. She is a member of the all-female tabla ensemble, Taalika, and a former member of the duo Tabla Upaj and the trio Tabla Triveni. As one of the original founding members of Taalim School of Indian Music, Sejal has been working at the school since 2002. In addition to teaching at Taalim, she is the head tabla teacher at Young Indian Culture Group, Inc in Long Island and Vidya Kendra School in Kearny, NJ.
Loren Oppenheimer
Loren Oppenheimer is originally from Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a committed and sincere disciple of Pandit Divyang Vakil. Loren is a tabla soloist and accompanist for music and kathak dance, and a full time teacher at the Taalim School of Indian Music. Loren has also conducted workshops and given performances in the USA, Canada, and India, and has participated in numerous community events which celebrate world music in the US.
Loren heads Taalim’s operations in Virginia.
Rushi Vakil
Rushi Vakil is an Indian composer, musician, and music producer. He is known for his musical versatility and production in a range of styles including Indian classical, pop, folk, world, and electronic, to name just a few. Whether scoring movies and short films, composing and producing singles, or creating sound for global level stage productions, all of Rushi’s work integrates Indian soul with world music genres, appealing rhythm arrangements, vivid soundscapes, and distinctive originality.
As a musician, he performs regularly on national and international stages with some of the finest global musicians. With his own professionally equipped recording studio and a multi-facility production house at hand, he constantly creates and produces music, raising the bar higher with each production.
Guruji Pandit Divyang Vakil
Founder, Taalim School of Indian Music
Pandit Divyang Vakil (known as Guruji, or “respected teacher”) is a world renowned Indian rhythm composer, Guru of “Taalvidya”, Spirituality and Philosophy. Driven by an unwavering passion, Guruji has dedicated himself to the revival of traditional Indian performing arts, the preservation of its rich cultural legacy, and the exploration of music's unique and universal essence.
Jin Won
Based in New Jersey, Jin Won is a one-of-a-kind artist in the field of Indian performing arts who explores the sonic and visual possibilities of rhythm through dance and music. Ms. Won is an accomplished Kathak dancer, tabla player and educator of South Korean origin diligently nurturing the future generation of Indian classical artists at Taalim since 2011.
Across esteemed stages in the United States, Ms. Won's captivating artistry has mesmerized audiences through Indian classical and contemporary dance performances. Highlights include remarkable showcases at renowned venues, including:
Millennium Stage, Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., USA
Princeton Festival, McCarter Theater, Princeton, NJ, USA
The Drive East Festival, La MaMa Theater, New York City, NY, USA
Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater, Symphony Space, NYC, USA
State Theatre New Jersey, NJ, USA
Battery Dance Festival, Robert F. Wagner Park, NYC, USA
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX, USA
Festival Of Tabla, California, USA
Mike Lukshis
Currently serving as the manager and Tabla faculty at Taalim School, Mike Lukshis has dedicated his life to the study and growth of the Indian classical percussion instrument tabla through performance, teaching, and community building. As an accomplished solo artist and in accompaniment to Indian classical dance and instrumental music, he has been capturing the audiences with unforgettable live experiences which include the following iconic venues:
Lincoln Center – New York, NY, USA
Millennium Stage, Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., USA
Princeton Festival, McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, USA
Brooklyn Botanic Garden – Brooklyn, NY, USA
State Theatre New Jersey, NJ, USA
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX, USA
Ciudad de las Ideas – Puebla, México
Brampton Library – Brampton, Canada
Gurupurnima Concert – Ahmedabad, India
Rushi Vakil
Rushi Vakil, an esteemed composer, musician, and music producer hailing from India, embraces a boundless musical universe. Nurtured in the embrace of a musical family, Rushi (son of the esteemed Indian music maestro Guruji Pandit Divyang Vakil) embodies the essence of music within his very being. With a rich heritage flowing through his veins, he has devoted over 25 years to formal training in Indian classical percussion, honing his craft with dedication and precision. Furthermore, his insatiable curiosity and thirst for musical exploration led him to self-taught mastery of the keyboard over a decade of diligent practice.
Kaumil Shah
Ahmedabad native Kaumil Shah’s identity is shaped by tabla. Prior to joining the Taalim School, he was a tabla teacher and performing artist with Rhythm Riders in India. Aside from teaching tabla at the Taalim School, he is a member of Taalim tabla groups, and plays djembe with dance & world drum ensemble Pradhanica.
A disciple of Pandit Divyang Vakil, Shah has travelled the world performing tabla with celebrated ensemble Talavya, performing at Ciudad de las Ideas (Mexico), Percussive Arts Society International Convention, INK Conference (formerly TEDIndia), Vancouver Island Musicfest, and more. Album credits include two Talavya releases – Tabla Ecstasy and Power of Tabla. Shah is also a multi-percussionist with fusion band Taan.
Sejal Kukadia
Sejal Kukadia is originally from upstate NY, and is a disciple of Pandit Divyang Vakil. Sejal is the author of Tabla Taalim: A Study in North Indian Percussion. As a member of the Middle Eastern Sephardic music band, Divahn, based in NYC, Sejal has traveled throughout the country spreading the art of tabla to non-Indian audiences. Sejal is one of very few female tabla artists in the USA. She is a member of the all-female tabla ensemble, Taalika, and a former member of the duo Tabla Upaj and the trio Tabla Triveni. As one of the original founding members of Taalim School of Indian Music, Sejal has been working at the school since 2002. In addition to teaching at Taalim, she is the head tabla teacher at Young Indian Culture Group, Inc in Long Island and Vidya Kendra School in Kearny, NJ.
Loren Oppenheimer
Loren Oppenheimer is originally from Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a committed and sincere disciple of Pandit Divyang Vakil. Loren is a tabla soloist and accompanist for music and kathak dance, and a full time teacher at the Taalim School of Indian Music. Loren has also conducted workshops and given performances in the USA, Canada, and India, and has participated in numerous community events which celebrate world music in the US. Loren heads Taalim’s operations in Virginia.
