This event is streamed live as part of the Raga Chhandayan series. through Playtoome. Note that 9:00PM Kolkata time is 9:30 AM Eastern standard time.
Sitar - Mita Nag
Tabla - Samir Chatterjee
Mita Nag
Miss Mita Nag, daughter of veteran satirist, Pandit Manilal Nag and grand daughter of Sangeet Acharya (a master musician) Gokul Nag, belongs to the Vishnupur Gharana of Bengal, a school of music nearly 300 years old. In terms of lineage, Mita is the sixth generation sitar player in her family, the tradition having begun with her fore fathers. It was with her grandfather Gokul Nag, who had become the Guru of a noted zamindar (feudal lord) family of Uttarpara, a Northern suburb town of Kolkata, that the music of the Nag family came into limelight. With her illustrious father Manilal, the sitar tradition of Vishnupur gharana was made known to the world.
This Gharana follows the Dhrupad style of song and the instrumental recital too, imitates the dhrupad style in the Alap phase.
Mita (born,1969) was initiated into music at the tender age of four . She had shown rather early gestures of her love for music. Toddling with her tiny sitar Mita began her early training under the guidance of her mother who was also a disciple of Gokul Nag. Her grandfather’s encouragement and instructions through singing had much influence on her early reception of music, most noticeably, associating the instrument with song. Her tutelage under her father started at the age of six.
Mita appeared for her debut performance at the age of ten years, the year 1979 being observed as the International Year of the Child. The same year Mita won the Junior National Talent Search Award of the Government of India.
Mita has performed in a number of concerts, solo as well as duet recitals with her father in major cities of India and in many cities of the US, Canada, Japan and Europe. She was awarded the Junior Fellowship Award by the Human Resource Development, Government of India, for her research project on Vishnupur Gharana.
Mita has founded the Gokul Nag Memorial Foundation, a Trust for the promotion of Indian Classical Music, in the fond memory of her grandfather.
Mita is a Masters in English Literature and an M.Phil. in English from The University of Kolkata.
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.
Samir 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.
Since June 2008 Samir started working relentlessly towards the musical revival of Afghanistan. He made several trips to the country working with different levels of the society and administration and within a very short period of time was able to make a remarkable difference in the cultural life of the country. He is the recipient of several awards such as the Sunshine Award, Jadu Bhatta Award and Acharya Varistha Award.