Onkur Sen

"The way to be is to do." Confucius

Music

Overview

Music has been a big part of my life since I was a kid. A condensed timeline:

I started learning Western classical music on piano when I was 6 years old.
In 5th grade, I learned alto saxophone for my school’s band and quickly realized I could use it to play covers of old Hindi songs.
In 7th grade, I began taking lessons for violin through the Suzuki method.
In 10th grade, I inherited an electric guitar from a family friend and began to teach myself. I picked up acoustic guitar soon after and generally prefer that for its portability.
In my freshman year of college, I started singing and accompanying myself on piano and guitar.
In the first year of my Master’s, I made the transition to a cappella and joined Stanford Raagapella, and in the second year, I became the director.

Solo Recordings

I’ve recorded a number of covers of popular English and Hindi songs as well as produced my own instrumental interpretations. Most of these are from my early years in college, but I plan on adding more pieces soon!

Stanford Raagapella

Overview and Repertoire

For the 2015-2016 school year, I was the director of Raagapella, Stanford’s South Asian a cappella group. My goal as director was to push the group forward both in terms in the abilities of each individual singer but also in the repertoire that we learned as a group. In particular, I pushed to learn a large number of songs that had variations in style, tempo, and origin. Below is a table of the pieces we learned by quarter (italics indicate new arrangements that I introduced).

Fall	Winter	Spring
Oru Maalai / Oka Maaru	Woh Lamhe	Kangna
Jaane Kya Chahe / Burn	Aicha	O Humdum Suniyo Re
Oh Carol	O…Saya	Chaiyya Chaiyya
Vande Mataram	Chan Chan (Aayo Re Sakhi)	Pani Da Rang / Superstition
Hallelujah / Ey Karevan	Mahabharat Theme Song	Allah Ke Bande
Chandrachooda	Swing Low / Mangalyam	Kun Faya Kun
Aashayein		Bholi Si Surat
Pehla Nasha

Performances

As a semi-professional group, we perform thorughout the Bay Area and occasionally travelled for outside performances. Our highlight performances for the year were:

Anahat 2015 at UC Berkeley
Mehfil 2016 at University of Southern California
Maitri 2016 annual gala
Rhythms 2016 at Stanford University
Winter Show 2016 at Stanford University
Our annual tour of the East Coast, which included performances at Yale University and Columbia University
Spring Show 2016 at Stanford University

Album Release: Raag Time

In addition, as director, I oversaw the final release of the group’s second album Raag Time. You can find it on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Music, Spotify, YouTube, and many other outlets.

CelebrateART 2013

In Spring 2013, I performed a set of five pieces with Rohan Shah in an intimate concert as part of CelebrateART at Rice University. Our set list was:

I Knew I Loved You (by Savage Garden) + Pee Loon (from Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai)
Darmiyaan (from Jodi Breakers) + Crazy Love (by Michael Buble)
Pani Da Rang (from Vicky Donor) + Jo Bhi Main (from Rockstar)
Tujhe Bhula Diya (from Anjaana Anjaani) + Gunaah (from Blood Money)
Bin Tere (Reprise) (from I Hate Luv Storys)

Sangleet

In Spring 2011, I co-directed a 15-minute musical with Rashmi Kamath and Karthik Soora for the Rice University South Asian Society’s annual spring show Rangeela. This involved bringing multiple singers together to record tracks as well as choreographing dance numbers with a cast of more than 15 people. The pieces we arranged for the production were:

Come On Get Higher (by Matt Nathanson) + Pee Loon (from Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai)
Better Together (Instrumental) (by Jack Johnson)
Hai Junoon (from New York New York) + Roobaroo (from Rang De Basmati)
Aadat (by Atif Aslam) + Grenade (by Bruno Mars)
Lucky (by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat)
Marry You (by Bruno Mars)