Sarode - Soumya Chakraverty
Tabla - Debu Nayak
Unfortunately we have cancelled all performances until further notice because of the Coronavirus epidemic.
Soumya Chakraverty
Based in Washington DC, Soumya is an established Sarod player who proudly carries the mantle of the Shahjahanpur Gharana, one of the oldest surviving lineages in instrumental music in northern India.
He took up the Sarod at an early age under the guidance of Pt. Samarendra Nath Sikdar, a disciple of the legendary Sarod maestro, Pt. Radhika Mohan Moitra. The playing style of this gharana, has a unique blend of the Rababiya (derived from the Rabab) and Gayaki (derived from Hindustani vocal music) styles.
Soumya blossomed as a young artist on All India Radio Calcutta between 1990 and 1995. During a brief stint in Australia for a couple of years in the nineties while pursuing his MBA, he truly established himself as a mature instrumentalist, and also began to collaborate with other forms of world music.
For nearly two decades, Soumya has been performing throughout the US, as well as touring Australia and Mexico. He has performed in major cities such as Cleveland, New York, Princeton, Seattle, and his home town of Washington DC, drawing packed audiences and earning rave reviews. In addition to pure Hindustani he continues to work with other music genres such Classical Carnatic (south Indian), flamenco, jazz and latin American percussion. His recent concert and interview at the Library of Congress has gone into the archives of this prestigious institution. Other performances of note, include Hindustani-Carnatic Jugalbandi at the Embassy of India in Washington DC, a collaboration with Ghazal in a program series titled From Ghalib to Gulzar, and a fusion project combining Rabindrasangeet (Tagore songs), Hindusthani classical music, classical Jazz, and West African percussion in a concert titled ‘Sea Thy Melody’. He recently returned to the US from a concert tour of India, Australia and New Zealand where he performed extensively throughout.
Despite having a regular career in banking and risk management, Soumya’s love and passion in music pushes him to continue to exploring new frontiers and challenges.
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Debu Nayak
Debapriya Nayak (Debu) was born in West Bengal, India, and began learning tabla at the age of three from his grandfather, Chaudhury Kausalya Nandan, who was an accomplished pakhawaj and tabla player of the Punjab Gharana. Later, Debu became a disciple of Pt. Radhakanta Nandi of the Benaras Gharana. In 1981, Debu came to the US to pursue higher studies and continued his tabla taalim from Maestros like Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Anindo Chattergee and currently under Pandit Samir Chatterjee of the Farrukkhabad Gharana.
Debu is an accomplished soloist and accompanist. He has performed with renowned artists like Pt. Vinayak Torvi, Pt. Ramesh Mishra, Ustad Fahimuddin Dagar, Habib Wali Mohammad, Asif Ali Khan, Shahanaz Begum, Gaurav Mazumdar, Partha Bose, Mitali Banerjee-Bhawmik, Tulika Ghosh and many others.
His tabla was featured in a collaborative effort of Indian Classical Music and Jazz. The CD, called PROBE, is currently available under ‘World Music’ at the Sackler Gallery Bookstore in the Smithsonian. He along with the members of PROBE have also performed at the Smithsonian Institution. Along with Soumya Chakraverty, he also performed and gave an interview for the archives of the US Library of Congress in 2016.
He is the director of the Washington DC Chapter of Chhandayan, a tabla school dedicated to the promotion of tabla and Indian Classical Music in the Washington DC metro area.