Sarode Concert – Ranajit Sengupta And Samir Chatterjee
Ranajit Sengupta
Pandit Ranajit Sengupta is one of the best Sarode Players and Music Composers inn India. He has performed for the last 25 years in more than 45 countries around the world. He is a student of late Ustad Dhyanesh Khan and Ustad Aashish Khan of Maihar Senia and he attended several workshops by Late Dr. Ustad Ali Akbar Khan in India and California. He is one of the youngest TOP Grade Sarode Player from All India Radio and Television and was the winner of the Presidents’ award for securing First position in All India Radio Competition, Acharya Baba Allauddin Memorial Award, Pandit Nikhil Bannerjee Memorial Award and “Best talent of the Year” award by HMV to name a few. He scored top marks in both Graduation and the Master’s Exam from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata and is a Guest Lecturer in Universities in USA, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, England, and India. He has performed in Major Music Festivals and Venues around the globe including USA, Canada, Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, The Netherlands, Greece, England, Scotland, Estonia, Russia, Africa, United Arab Emirates, Syria & Caribbean Islands to name a few. He has over 30 CD and DVD releases.
Ranajit has composed Music for the Dutch Feature Film “Dark Amsterdam”, the Title Music for the International Film Festival, Kolkata, in 1994 and the music for the Road Movie “Lost and Found Tour” filmed about himself and 3 other Austrian Musicians. He got 4 World-Fusion Music Bands in Europe with Musicians from around the globe. Ranajit has been the Principal Composer, guest conductor and Guru for the National Youth Orchestra for Indian Music in England from 2011 to 2015.
Ranajit has taught students from around the world. PANDIT is a title given to Ranajit Sengupta by the Ministry of Broadcasting, Government of India as one of the youngest Musician ever, which is equivalent to “MAESTRO” title in Europe
Samir Chatterjee
Samir Chatterjee is a virtuoso Tabla player from India. He travels widely across the world throughout the year performing in numerous festivals as a soloist or with other outstanding musicians from both Indian and non-Indian musical traditions. Samir performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway in 2007. He also performed a few times at the United Nations General Assembly. His compositions are widely acclaimed as well as his writings. Samir is a firm believer in the transforming effect of music on the society and all aspects of his work reflects this conviction.
Samir began his studies early with Pandit Bankim Ghosh, Pt. Balaram Mukherjee, Pt. Rathin Dhar and Mohammad Salim. His later formation as a musician occurred under the guidance of Pt. Amalesh Chatterjee (since 1966) and Pt. Shyamal Bose (since 1984). All of Samir’s teachers have been from the Farrukhabad Gharana (school) of Tabla-playing, which he now represents.
Samir is rated ‘A’ as an artiste of Indian national radio and television. He can be heard on numerous recordings featuring as soloist, accompanying many of India’s greatest musicians and in collaboration with western musicians of outstanding caliber. In concert Samir has accompanied many of India’s greatest musicians including Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ud. Vilayat Khan, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Nikhil Banerjee, Pt. V.G. Jog, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, M. S. Gopalakrishnan, Ud. Amjad Ali Khan, Ud. Salamat Ali Khan, Smt. Lakshmi Shankar, Pt. Manilal Nag, Ud. Ali Ahmed Hussain, Ud. Aashis Khan, Dr. L. Subramanium, U Srinivas, Ud. Naseeruddin Sami, Smt. Veena Sahashrabuddhe, Ud. Shujat Khan, Ud. Saheed Parvez, Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty, Ud. Nishat Khan, Ud. Rashid Khan, Pt. Tejendra N. Mazumdar, Pt. Debashish Bhattacharya, Smt. Arti Anklekar, Smt. Kaushiki Chakraborty, to name only a few.
Samir Chatterjee lives in the New York-New Jersey area, and has been a catalyst in the fusion of Indian and Non-Indian music, in his own creations and others as well. He performs with Pauline Oliveros, William Parker, Branford Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane, Joshua Bell, Yoko Ono Lenon, David Liebman, Oliver Lake, Dave Douglas, Ned Rothenberg, Mark Dresser, Mark Feldman, Jerome Harris, Eric Friedlander, Steve Gorn, Glen Velez, Boby Sanabria, Jin Hi Kim, Min Xiao-Fen, Dance Theater of Harlem, Boston Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Ethos Percussion group, Da Capo Chamber Orchestra, Boston Musica Viva and other jazz, classical and avant guard musicians and ensembles. He also collaborates with Sufi-Rock singer Salman Ahmad of Junoon from Pakistan. He is the composer and director of Indo-Flame – a blend of Indian and Flamenco dance and music, Chhand-Anand – a world percussion ensemble, RabiThakur – a ballet on the life of Tagore, Meghadootam – a feature program of music and dance on an ancient Indian poem, and Dawn to Dusk and Beyond – on the effect of music on humans and nature. He performs with Sanjay Mishra on his CD “Blue Incantation” featuring Jerry Garcia as guest artist.
Samir Chatterjee has been teaching for the last 35 years and many of his students are established performers. He is the Founder-Director of CHHANDAYAN, an organization dedicated to promoting and preserving Indian music and culture. He has authored a comprehensive 654-page book entitled A Study of Tabla, a guide book to Indian music titled Music of India and Those Forty Days, a journal of an austere practice regimen. He is on the faculty at Manhattan School of Music, University of Pittsburgh and New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. He also taught at the Yale University, Columbia University, New York University and Princeton University, among many other major institutions in the USA, Europe and India. He also contributes to several newspapers and periodicals. He won gold medal for his proficiency in a musical examination and has two Master degrees, in English and History.