I am a sitarist from the Maihar Gharana and a professional performer in concerts in India and abroad. Presently I live and work in Dresden, Germany as a scientist. I am interested in performing and teaching in Europe.
Contact Now| I am a student.. a student of Indian Classical Music and of molecular biology. Although they seem to be miles apart in their apparent scope of influence, for me they are intertwined in an experience encompassing complementary inputs from both fields. Science teaches the mind to explain facts and music prepares it to rise above them. I was born into a family that does not boast of a rich musical heritage but which had members, specially from my paternal side pursuing music to professional levels. My father, Pijush Kumar Chakraborty and his sister Late Gouri Ganguli, were both performers and admired vocalists in their own right and were inspirations in my musical career that has spanned about sixteen years. I have had formal training in tabla and vocal music from Shri. Robin Adhikary in addition to learning sitar for a considerable period of time under two masters. The former, Late Shri Sunil Saha initiated me into the art of sitar playing at a tender age and taught me the basic elements of dhrupad and beenkar styles that he had mastered over the ages learning under stalwarts like Ustad Dabir Khan, Pt. Shyam Ganguli, Shri. Ahindra Chakraborty and the great Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Following his sad demise, I was lucky to be taken under the rigorous tutelage of Pt. Debaprasad Chakraborty, a leading torch-bearer of the Senia Maihar Gharana and a disciple of musical greats like Pt. Gokul Nag and Shri. Ajoy Sinha Roy. It was under Pt. Chakraborty's guidance that I could learn to imbibe varying aspects of the gayaki and the dhrupad elements in our music and follow a pattern resembling the Nikhil Banerjee school of musical exposition that encompasses the 'tantrakari' (string based) style of the Maihar and the 'gayaki'(vocal based) style of the Vilayatkhani gharanas. I am presently a graduate student doing research at the Max Planck Institute of Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany. Music has been a passion that I have pursued for all these years, in between my academic career and has been the source of fulfillment and satisfaction. |
