Vocal - Mitali Bhawmik
Tabla - Samir Chatterjee
Harmonium - Kedar Naphade
Come join us at the Chhandayan Center for an evening Vocal Performance by Mitali Bhawmik. This is Chhandayan’s annual fundraising event, so the concert will be preceded by a meet-and-greet at 7 pm with some finger food provided. We are raising money for Chhandayan’s new space and to support our cause. The concert will also be streamed live.
Mitali (Banerjee) Bhawmik
Mitali (Banerjee) Bhawmik, an artiste of Hindustani Classical vocal music, was born in Nogaon, Assam, India. She started her initial lessons in music at an early age under tutor Sri Ajit Dutta. Later she had the privilege of receiving extensive training in Hindustani Classical vocal music from Late Pandit Biren Phukan in Guahati of Assam. For further training, Mitali moved to Kolkata in 1983 where she initially received lessons from Late Vidushi Meera Banerjee the highly acclaimed vocalist of that time. Since 1985 Mitali was under the tutelage of Late Padmabhushan Pandit V. G. Jog, the famous violin maestro. Mitali has also been receiving advanced training in semi-classical music from Smt. Dalia Rahut, a senior disciple of Vidushi Girija Devi, a legend of Indian Classical Music. Pandit Jog's vast and extensive experience in the different musical styles and traditions have helped Mitali to blend the best of a few styles (Gharanas) in her music in contrast to sticking to a single traditional Gharana. This has been the essence of Pandit Jog's philosophy in music and training methodology.
Mitali has performed in several concerts at prestigious venues in India, USA, UK, Amsterdam, and Germany and she has recently performed in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in Australia. A detailed list and information on career, please visit her website at mitalibhawmik.com. Her melodious voice and perfect rendition of the "ragas" have won her numerous laurels and appreciation from listeners and institutions. She also performed as a playback singer in Mira Nair’s acclaimed 2006 Indo-American drama film “The Namesake” (based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel ‘The Namesake’) which was released in USA in 2007. She has four CD albums of pure classical and semi-classical music (Thumri, Dadra, Kajri, Hori etc.), among others, to her credit. In her debut album Vandana, she was accompanied on the violin by her Guru Padmabhushan Pandit V. G. Jog.
Mitali is the Director of ‘Ethnomedia Music Studio’ (two centers in NJ, at Bridgewater & at Bharat Sevashram Sangha, Kendal Park) where she teaches and promotes Hindustani Classical Music to the younger generation in USA. She and her students have won the prestigious New Jersey Council of the Arts grant for 7 years. She is the recipient of the 2021 Excellence in the Arts Award from the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission. Mitali also founded ‘Raag-Rang’, a non-profit organization which is promoting music in the community by arranging concerts by musicians from USA and India.
Samir Chatterjee
Samir Chatterjee is a virtuoso Tabla player. 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 2007 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway. He also performed at the UN 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 Bankim Ghosh, Balaram Mukherjee, Rathin Dhar and Md. Salim. His later formation as a musician occurred under the guidance of Amalesh Chatterjee and Shyamal Bose. All of Samir's teachers have been from the Farrukhabad Gharana of Tabla-playing, which he now represents.
Samir 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 Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Jasraj, Nikhil Banerjee, V.G. Jog, Shivkumar Sharma, Hariprasad Chaurasia, M. S. Gopalakrishnan, Amjad Ali Khan, Salamat Ali Khan, Lakshmi Shankar, L. Subramanium, U Srinivas, Shujaat Khan, Shahid Parvez, Ajoy Chakraborty, Rashid Khan, Kaushiki Chakraborty, to name only a few.
Samir Chatterjee has been a catalyst in the fusion of Indian and Non-Indian music, in his own creations and others as well. He has performed with Pauline Oliveros, William Parker, Branford Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane, Joshua Bell, David Liebman, Ned Rothenberg, Mark Dresser, Dance Theater of Harlem, Boston Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, 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 Tablaphilia, Indo-Flame, Chhand-Anand, RabiThakur, Meghadootam, and Dawn to Dusk and Beyond. He performs with Sanjay Mishra on his CD "Blue Incantation" featuring Jerry Garcia as guest artist.
Kedar Naphade
Kedar Naphade (born Jan 10, 1972) received preliminary training in Hindustani Classical Music from his grandfather, Shri Dadasaheb Naphade and from Shri Arvind Gajendragadkar. Since the age of 9, he has been a disciple of Late Pt. Tulsidas Borkar, arguably the greatest harmonium player of our times. Kedar has also had the privilege of training from Late Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, a veteran singer of the Atrauli-Jaipur gharana. She played a pivotal role in his musical development and sowed in him the seed that developed into a passionate love for the vocal art form. As such, like his guru Pt. Tulsidas Borkar, Kedar's music derives inspiration from the character of the traditional Hindustani vocal art form, as well as the dexterous harmonium wizardry of Pt. Borkar and his guru P. Madhukar—a genius and pioneer in harmonium performance technique. In addition to classical music, Kedar also plays the semi-classical forms of Marathi Natyasangeet (Stage Music), Bhajans, Thumri, Dhun etc.
Kedar has performed harmonium solo and has accompanied vocalists at numerous concerts in India, Europe and in the U.S. including prestigious festivals and venues such as the Alladiya Khan Smruti Samaroha, Dadar Matunga Cultural Center in Mumbai, The Lincoln Center in New York, The Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C etc. He has also been featured on NPR.
He has shared the stage with luminaries such as his guru Smt. Padmavati Shaligram-Gokhale, Pt. Jasraj, Smt. Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Smt. Prabha Atre, Smt. Laxmi Shankar, Pt. Phiroz Dastur, Smt. Ashwini Bhide, Smt. Arati Ankalikar, Smt. Kaushiki Chakraborty and others. Kedar continues to maintain an active concert schedule and teach the next generation fo harmonium players in the US and Canada.