2025 Youth Scholar Biographies
Rupam Das, a 16-year-old chromatic player from Kolkata, in eastern India, has been playing the harmonica for about 4 ½ years. He plays a fusion of light Indian melodies and popular Western songs. As a member of the Kolkata Harmonica Association, he heard about the SPAH convention from two members who had previously attended the convention.
Ananya Gururaja is a 22-year-old chromatic harmonica player from Bangalore, in southern India. She began her musical journey in 2016 on the tremolo harmonica but later transitioned to the chromatic harmonica under the guidance of her teacher, aiming to better capture the nuances of Indian music. Over the years, she has learned to play several Indian classical (Carnatic) pieces on the harmonica and has won multiple awards at inter-college fests, including national-level instrumental competitions. Her goal is to bring out the subtleties of Indian classical and film music on the harmonica and to blend the richness of traditional Indian music with modern musical styles.
Rohan Singhal is a 19-year-old diatonic player from Indore, in central India. He has been playing harmonica for the past 13 years and enjoys playing blues, jazz, funk, rock, fusion, and Western and Indian classical music. He would like to promote the diatonic harmonica in India, as it is not as commonly played as the chromatic. Rohan is a student of Howard Levy. Rohan has participated in and won at various international harmonica competitions in the UK, Germany, and China.
Taran Caston is a 16-year-old diatonic player from Oxford, England. He has a passion for all things harmonica. He’s been playing harmonica for 5 years and, like many, picked up the harmonica during COVID-19 lockdown. He has a band and he and the band are inspired by the music of Jason Ricci and Will Wilde and the blues rock harmonica genre. He hopes to expand his understanding of music theory and work using the diatonic as a chromatic instrument with the technique of Howard Levy.
Nick Spencer is a 17-year-old blues player from Bedford, New Hampshire. He’s played blues on the guitar and sung all his life and decided to add harmonica to the mix three years ago. Nick is mostly self-taught and worked with Billy Branch at the Pinetop Perkins masterclass last summer. His goal is to play gigs at a professional level.
Kyren Allen is a 20-year-old diatonic player from Commerce City, Colorado, who began playing the diatonic harmonica 3 years ago. He has been studying with Jason Ricci and has a fast, funky, and rhythmic style inspired by Jason. Kyren also has been taking lessons with the great swing Jazz player Mariano Massolo and started studying Neoclassical Metal and Classical music. His main influences for the latter two genres are Yngwie Malmsteen, Jason Becker, and Joey Tafolla.