Pankaj Mishra - Sarangi
Soumyajyoti Ghosh-Bansuri
Samir Chatterjee-Tabla
Pankaj Mishra
PANKAJ MISHRA is an "A" Grade Sarangi Player with All India Radio & Television in Kolkata.
For an Indian classical musician, there is no greater blessing than to be born into a great lineage. Being the great grandson of Sarangi virtuoso late Pandit Saraju Prasad Mishra, Grandson of late Pandit Mahadeo Prasad Mishra, and Son of Shri Satya Narayan Mishra, Pankaj was bestowed that great opportunity. He was trained from an early age by the renowned Sarangi player of the Banaras Gharana, the late Pandit Mahesh Prasad Mishra. Pankaj Mishra has received the mantle of his musical forebearers with the greatest respect and humility whilst working diligently to earn the reputation of an accomplished representative of an impressive and unique musical family.
From a very young age Pankaj has created a style of his own. Since an early age Pankaj has performed as an Accompanying and Solo Artist in India. His unique style of playing and interpretation is admired and sought after by a wide range of professionals from venerable Indian masters to luminary world musicians.
Soumyajyoti Ghosh
From the distant antiquity, it is the overwhelming tune of Lord Krishna’s ‘Bansuri’ which have enchanted the whole creation for years to come. The musical instrument ‘Bansuri’ or flute, modifying the ‘fourth one’ of the five basic elements of nature or ‘Panchabhut’ is one of the most popular instruments due to its melodious simplicity. Among the very few flutists of recent times who have come to conquer innumerable musical hearts, Soumyajyoti is a name who had started his melodious journey at the very tender age of only twelve years under the able guidance of Sri Sudip Chatterjee, a senior staff artist of the All India Radio.
In course of his musical journey, Soumyajyoti had come in touch with many artiststs and musicians who have guided him in one or the other way. Some name whose guidance and co-operation are should be emphasized are Pt. Debaprasad Banerjee, Sri Debapratim Roy and Dr. Rajib Chakraborty
Then came the dawn in Soumyajyoti’s life, when his musical horizon got illuminated by the celestial light of Guru ’Pandit Ronu Majumdar’, the flute Maestro of the famous ‘Maihar’ Gharana, whose affectionate blessings shower on him abundantly till date. Being a disciple of Pandit Ronu Majumdar, Soumyajyoti continues to pursue his tireless musical quest.
Soumyajyoti selected in the ‘All India Radio Talent Contest’ at the age of fifteen. Later he had upgraded himself as a B-high artist of the All India Radio. He has performed in the ‘Bird’s eye Jazz Club’ in Switzerland and ‘Rijeka Jazz Festival ’in Croatia. Melody of his flute has also filled up the air of several countries with fragrance, among which Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Kuwait, Bangladesh are to be mentioned.
He is also fortunate enough to accompany the Maestros like Pandit Birju Maharaj, Pandit Chitresh Das, Ustad Ghulam Ali, Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya and Pandit Bikram Ghosh.
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.