The Team
Stephen Philip
Founder Grapefruit Music
PGDip in Music Therapy
Stephen’s journey into music therapy, is one fraught with accidents and coincidences. A combination of fascination for what the subject might involve, and a ‘let’s see where this goes’ approach, led him into training, and eventually deciding to gather the body of his subsequent therapeutic work under the name Grapefruit Music, which he founded with AnkurSahu in 2016.
While his training focused on music therapy in medical contexts, his work in Matli falls under the umbrella of community music therapy. Within itself this is an eclectic approach to music therapy, varying in practice and application, from context to context. Stephen’s work in Matli centers around working with people in need of neuro-rehabilitation, special needs, developmental delays, and communal musicking. He has a Masters in Divinity, a Post Graduate Diploma in Music Therapy, and is a Certified Integral Sound Healer.
Ankur Sahu
Co-founder Grapefruit Music
BSc Nursing Science
Ankur Sahu was born and brought up in Matli Village, Uttarkashi, and as such carries the clearest insights in to the context of the locality.
He is now a Registered Nurse (RN), who completed his BSc from the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences Bangalore.
He currently works as a nurse in the emergency department of a multispeciality hospital in Bangalore.
While the variety of subjects that draw his interests are many, he is setting his eyes on pursuing further studies in forensic science.
Bhuvaneswari Ramesh
PhD Research Scholar – Music Therapy
MSc in Medical Music Therapy,
Regional Liaison, South-East Asia (WFMT)
Bhuvaneswari Ramesh is a faculty at the Center for Music Therapy Education and Research (CMTER), Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth University, a Health Sciences University in Pondicherry, India. She has a Master’s in Medical Music Therapy and currently is a Ph.D. Research scholar in Music Therapy. She is a faculty, clinical co-ordinator/supervisor for Internship trainees and observership programs at CMTER.
With an ardent interest in research, she has presented her work at the World Congress for Music Therapy 2014 and 2017, and has a few publications to her credit in the areas of pediatrics, gynecology, and ICU caretakers in a hospital setting. She has worked with varying clinical populations within the hospital and as part of community she has experience working with geriatric populations, children with cancer, children with special needs and the transgender community. Previously she was the World Federation of Music Therapy’s assistant student delegate for South-East Asia from 2014 to 2017, and currently serves as the regional liaison for South East Asia in the 2020-2023 council of World Federation of Music Therapy (WFMT).
Varun Rao
Music Producer, Sonic Artist
In search of a certain paradigm of sound and quality of listening, Varun Rao stepped into the playing field of music production and sound engineering back in 2013. Intentionally setting out to learn the craft of producing music albums for the songs that he was writing back then, he trained with the best in the Mumbai music industry for a span of 2 years.
Venturing professionally in 2015, he facilitated music production and sound engineering courses in Bangalore and then set-up his own music production base in Mangalore, exploring song-writing and live music performances.
Informed by an urge to dive in deeper, in 2018 he explored Integral Sound Studies and Practices, with Svaram in Auroville, India. This engagement was a delightful opening into the world of sound art and wellness. His work in Auroville, involved setting up a documentation studio and media lab, with Svaram. Adding to the pages, he also discovered the art of group music facilitations and holds workshops that focus on building a resonance amongst teams and individuals. A creative venture which integrated very well with his skills in music-production and sound art. The synergy carries forth in his unique elemental approach to music production, song-catching and group music interventions.
Tehani Chitty
MA in Drama and Movement Therapy
Tehani Chitty is a therapist who provides one-to-one and group counselling sessions for children with emotional and behavioral difficulties, adults with anxiety, those who have experienced trauma, and at-risk children and youth. She has an MA in Drama and Movement Therapy from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (UK) and is a member of the British Association of Drama Therapists. From 2018 to 2019 Tehani ran self-compassion groups with women from conflict areas in Sri Lanka. She has worked with children in residential care for 3 years and has co-created the Good Enough Parent Course.
Tehani is passionate about supporting people to move in to a healthier relationship with themselves, others, and the world around them. She uses play, storytelling, enactment, and movement as the medium through which to facilitate this journey.
Calsey Schroeder
MA in Music Therapy, BC – MT
Africa Student Representative (WFMT)
Calsey Schroeder is a board-certified music therapist based in South Africa, Potchefstroom. She completed her BMus degree at the North-West University in 2018 and continued to complete her master’s degree in Music Therapy at the University of Pretoria. Prior to completing her master’s degree, Calsey worked as a children’s ministry worker with involvement in several community development projects and pastoral counselling cases.
Currently Calsey is the Africa student representative for the World Federation of Music Therapy and facilitates a variety of international music therapy and research related projects.
Her passion includes psychiatry, global mental health and advocacy for interdisciplinary work between the arts therapies and other health professions. She is also involved with the International Association of Music and Medicine student task force and hopes to further interdisciplinary interactions within the health system.
Nourhe Khate
MA in Violin Performance
Nourhe Khate is an artiste for whom his instrument is an extension of his being and a channel for exuding his emotions effusively.
He was the winner of the David Menezes national violin competition in 2014 and is also one of the two Indians who received the Rumi Foundation Great Indian Scholarship to study in Trinity Laban for the Academic year 2016-2017. He also received the Great India Scholar and Leverhulme Arts Scholar for the academic year of 2017-2018 to complete his masters in Violin performance from the prestigious Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music, London.
Sukanya Chattophadyay
MA in Music (Hindustani Classical)
Sukanya trained in music with a Masters from Calcutta University, specialising in Hindustani Classical. She has additionally studied sound engineering and music production from the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication, Delhi. Her journey as a producer and a sound designer began with productions for NSD and she made her debut stage appearance with ‘Burudu’ for Sofar. ‘Rootha Yaar’, by Midival Punditz feat. Sukanya was first released as a track for the web series ‘Made in Heaven’ by Zoya Akhtar which has also been released as a single EP. Sukanya has made multiple stage appearances representing the Midival Punditz on platforms like NH7, Pune, 2019, Good Earth Fashion Show and Blender’s Pride Fashion Finale in Mumbai, alongside collaborations with SVARAM Sound Experience in Auroville.