Arnab Chatterjee - Vocal
Samir Chatterjee - Tabla
Srikar Ayyalasomayajula - Harmonium
Come join us at the Chhandayan Center for an evening vocal performance by renowned artist Arnab Chatterjee, accompanied by Srikar Ayyalasomayajula on harmonium and Samir Chatterjee on tabla. The performance will also be streamed live.
Arnab Chatterjee
Arnab Chatterjee was born and groomed in a musical ambience amidst nature in the suburban town of Basirhat, near Kolkata. Initiated into music at the early age of five by his father Late Sangeetachariya Sree Arun Kr Chatterjee, a learned musician of the Kirana Gharana, Arnab was later groomed by none other than Late Pandit A. Kanan and Vidushi Malabika Kanan and Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan. Arnab flowered into a young performer very early in his life. At the age of seven only he shared the platform with Ustad Amjad Ali Khan at Suresh Sangeet Sammelan,Kolkata in the year 1979. ITC S.R.A.Sangeet Sammelan `81 saw him as a nine year old performer bursting with Confidence. Securing top position in competitions has been his way of life. A recipient of the National Talent Scholarship, Arnab was awarded the gold medal along with the Degree of Sangeet Visharad by securing the first position. Being a `TOP` grade artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan Kolkata. His Regular outstanding performances has raised high hopes among the music lovers and experts. He also performed at The National Programme of Music broadcasted at ALL INDIA RADIO. The Sursingar Samsad, Mumbai, bestowed him with the Title of `Surmani`. Arnab was an ex-scholar of ITC-SRA,KOLKATA,had joined as a faculty member in the year of 1998 and studied under the guidance of Late Pandit A Kanan and Vidushi Malabika Kanan and Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan .He has been selected and being empanelled as an artist of Hindustani classical music(vocal) by ICCR.Govt of India. Arnab stood the first position in All India Music Competition organized by Pandit Omkarnath Thakur Sangeet Mondal, Bharuch, Gujrat in the year2002.Now he is attached with Rabindra Bharati University, Bengal Music College Under the University of kolkata and Vishwa Varati Shantiniketan as an external Examiner of Classical Vocal Music on regular basis. BHARATIYA SANSKRITI SAMSAD,KOLKATA,awarded him as a Best vocalist for the year 2005. Arnab Chatterjee was deputed at Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre, Dhaka, Bangladesh as Hindustani Vocal Music trainer cum performer by ICCR, Govt. of India since Feb,2010 to Feb,2012. He has number of students at India and abroad who are acclaimed as good performer in the field of Hindustani Classical Vocal Music. Besides his Career in Music Arnab Chatterjee passed the graduation in Economics from the University of kolkata.At present Pandit Arnab Chatterjee is a one of the most acclaimed vocalist in the scenario of Hindustani Classical music. He is maintaining the pure tradition of Kirana Gharana with mixing the other forms of gayaki both in Khyal and Thumri with high intellectuality which makes his presentation Very colorful and popular and able to established himself as a very popular vocalist of India.
Samir Chatterjee
JSamir 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.
Srikar Ayyalasomayajula
Srikar Ayyalasomayajula grew up in central New Jersey and currently lives in Brooklyn. He has learnt Harmonium from Guru Sri Hemant Kulkarni in New Jersey for over ten years. Srikar has performed harmonium solo pieces in a number of concerts and competitions in harmonium growing up, including winning first prize in national competitions conducted by Marathi Vishwa, Academy of Indian Music and Fine Arts, Bharat Sevashram, etc. Apart from solo performances, Srikar has also provided dynamic as energetic Harmonium saath to artists from around the world regularly for over a decade. Srikar was also the Music Chair of Michigan Sahana, the premier Indian Classical Music and Dance Organization at the University of Michigan and had been organizing and performing in their concerts throughout his time at the university. After graduating, Srikar had been continuing to be a part of both classical accompaniment and fusion collaborations across the country. Apart from music, Srikar currently works at Google as a Software Engineer in New York City.