Kushal Das - Sitar
Samir Chatterjee - Tabla
Come join us at the Kreeger Auditorium for an evening sitar concert by renowned artist Kushal Das accompanied by Samir Chatterjee. This concert is supported by our community partner-the :KalpaVriksha, Centre for Performing Arts.
Kushal Das
Kushal Das, a North Indian solo sitarist was born to a highly enriched musical family of Kolkata. His grandfather Late Shri Bimal Chandra Das was a renowned Esraj player and his father and uncle are both sitarists of high repute. His father Shri Sailen Das is a disciple of Pt. Lakshman Bhattacharya. Later he became a disciple of Pt. Ravi Shankar. His uncle Shri Santanu Das is a disciple of Late Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.
Kushal started his talim from the age of five under the guidance of his uncle and father. Later He received intensive and rigorous training in advanced sitar techniques and the art of creating music under the affectionate guidance of Prof. Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, a renowned sitar maestro and academician. Kushal is also proud for having the privilege of learning from great musicians like Late Pt. Ajoy Sinha Roy, vocal lessons from Pt. Manas Chakraborty (Kotali Gharana) and Late Pt. Ramkrishna Basu.
With a profound knowledge of music and raga improvisation Kushal is now considered to be one of the foremost torchbearers of the tradition of Indian Classical Instrumental Music. The critics and connoisseurs have acknowledged him as a worthy successor of his idol, the legendary maestro Late Pt. Nikhil Banerjee. His concerts are always marked for their aesthetic appeal and insight with a fine command of technical expertise. With maturity as his forte Kushal has the predominant virtue of Indian heritage and music. An A-rated musician of All India Radio and Television, he is a recipient of Sangeet Visharad from Pracheen Kala Kendra of Chandigarh and Suramani from Sur Singar Samsad of Mumbai.
Kushal has participated in most of the major concert festivals in India. His tours abroad since 1987, which includes USA, Canada, England, Scotland, Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and Bangladesh were marked with outstanding success and audience appreciation.s
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.
Chatterjee 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.