Sanghamitra Chatterjee - Vocal
Deepsankar Bhattacharjee - Sitar
Samir Chatterjee - Tabla
Come join us at the Chhandayan Center for an evening of Indian vocal music performed by Sanghamitra Chatterjee, accompanied by Chhandayan’s founder Samir Chatterjee. The concert will also be stremed on-line.
Sanghamitra Chatterjee
Sanghamitra Chatterjee is a versatile singer of a wide variety of Indian songs from different genres. Her array of repertoire includes Bhajan, Ghazal, Dadra, film songs, Rabindra Sangeet (songs of Tagore), Adhunik (modern) Bengali songs, Nazrulgeeti and different types of folk and regional songs in different languages.
She had her lessons in classical singing from Pdt. Usharanjan Mukherjee and Sri Dashu Mukherjee. In non-classical music her training has been under Jatileshwar Mukherjee, Ajoy Das, Prasanta Chowdhury, Nikhil Chatterjee and others. She is an upgraded artist of the national radio and television of India. Her proficiency in Tagore songs has earned her the Sangeet Sudhakar diploma.
Sanghamitra's singing is characterized by high aesthetic quality and technical brilliance. Her sensible scanning of lyric with rendered with her original touches of embellishments, her highly sensitive and involved presentation not only brings out the inner essence of the songs she presents, but also adds a new dimension to their emotional contents. Her voice is gifted with a natural mellifluous quality which inevitably touches her audience. Much of her musical sensibilities have developed under the guidance and influence of her illustrious husband Samir Chatterjee, a musician of outstanding caliber and repute.
Sanghamitra Chatterjee is not only known for her excellence as a solo performer, she has also contributed to several groups such as the Chhandayan ensemble in their productions of Indo-Flame and Nacho-Nacho (blend of Indian and Flamenco dance and music), Dawn to Dusk and Beyond and World Percussion Ensemble; with the Battery Dance Co. of NY in production of Songs of Tagore; with the Kathak Ensemble of NY in Ka-Tap (Kathak and Tap dancing), with Ethos Percussions in Masters of Indian Music series. She has performed in many important places and festivals in the United States such as the Smithsonian Institute, Columbia University, American Museum of Natural History in New York and Washington, DC, Symphony Space in NYC, Wortham Center in Houston, Lotus Music and Dance, Kansas University, Monadnock Festival in Peterborough, New Hampshire, Sun Valley in Idaho, University of South Florida in Tampa etc. Apart from her homeland India and the United States she has also performed in Sri Lanka, Poland, The Bahamas and Kazakhstan.
She has presented master classes at Manhattan School of Music, Raritan Community College and also done several school performances in New York City. Her published recordings in CDs and cassettes are treasured by her audience. Her scholarly contribution includes music reviews to Indian news papers.
Deepsankar Bhattacharjee
“Sur-Moni” Deepsankar is the fourth generation of sitarists from an enlightened musical family. He embarked on his musical journey at a tender age under the tutelage of his father,
Pandit Hara Shankar Bhattacharya and then trained under the watchful guidance of his dadaguru, Padmabhusahan Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan Saheb. He is the torch bearer of the JAFFERKHANI BAAJ, a
unique style of sitar playing invented and perfected by Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan saheb. He has performed throughout Europe and the USA as well as the Indian subcontinent. He is an empanelled Artist of ICCR and also holds a Bachelors and Masters of Computer applications.
He received a Gold Medal from Sarbobharatio Sangeeto-o-Parisad, a Scholarship from CCRT awarded by Pt.Ravi Kichlu Foundation. He earned the title of “Sur-Moni” and was awarded the Ravi Kopikar Memorial Award from the International Foundation for Fine Arts. He won the AIR Music Competition awarded by Arobindo Institute of Culture. He was awarded a National Scholarship by the Ministry of Culture. He won the classical competition organised by Vedic Heritage in New York and a Gold Medal at Harballav Compitition. He was honoured as "Malhar Manishi" by Malhar Mahostsav, Ajmeer and also was awarded Brahm Dhyanam Purashkar from Sangeet Vidyapeeth Parisad.
“Sur-Moni” Deepsankar, a young sitarist born in the year 1986, is the fourth generation sitarist of an enlightened musical family. He embarked on his musical journey at a tender age under the tutelage of his father, Pandit Hara Shankar Bhattacharya.He also trained under the watchful guidance of his dadaguru, Padmabhusahan Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan Saheb . He is the torch bearer of the JAFFERKHANI BAAJ, a unique style of sitar playing invented and perfected by Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan saheb.
Deepsankar has performed at various places in India and abroad. His performances in New York and in various cities of Austria, Italy, Belgium, Croatia, Luxembourg, CzechRepublic,
Netherlands, France, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Spain,Sweden have been highly appreciated by the cognoscenti and the commoners alike. Deepsankar has been awarded by several Gold medals and titles from various organizations all over in the world.
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.