Biography

Arnab Chakrabarty is occupies an enviable position among Indian sarode players of the current generation. For his exquisite tonal quality, erudition and instrumental virtuosity, Arnab is considered by many to be among the foremost sarode players performing today. Having studied every great sarode player of the recorded era, Arnab tries to assimilate all aspects of the music of the great masters of Indian music that appeal to him, in addition to the core material that has been bequeathed upon him by his own masters.

Musical Education

Arnab has studied Indian classical music music for 27 years, and has been a performer for a decade and a half. He received his early training on the sarod from Pandit Brij Narayan (b. 1952). These matured into technical fluency in the course of a long spell of tutelage under Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta (b. 1933).

However, Arnab’s creative artistry was born as a result of four years of study under Prof. Kalyan Mukherjea (1943-2010), and constant collaboration with Vinayak Chittar (b. 1970), a sitar maestro of extraordinary genius.

Kalyan Mukherjea tutored Arnab in aesthetic and stylistic considerations of traditional music in which he had received rigorous training from one of its finest masters, Pandit Radhika Mohan Maitra (1917-1981). Mukherjea also helped fine-tune Arnab’s critical skills by passing on important clues as to how he could utilize his academic training for the betterment of his music.

In addition to his studies with Prof. Mukherjea, Arnab has frequently sought insights and tutoring from the great khayal singer, Pandit Yashwantbua Joshi (b. 1924), a doyen of the Gwalior Gharana.

In 2002, Arnab Chakrabarty received a dual degree in Music and International Relations from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.

As a concert performer

At age sixteen, Arnab gave one of his earliest concerts at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Bombay (now Mumbai). The acclaim received at this particular concert led to his first tour of the United States in October 1996, paving the way for a scholarship to attend Hampshire College in the fall of 1998.

Since 1998, Arnab has performed, with respectable results at an increasing number of concerts. Some of the venues he has appeared at include the Uttarpara Sangit Chakra (Calcutta), Radhika Mohan Maitra Memorial Music Conference (Calcutta), Pancham Nishad’s Aarohi Festival (Mumbai), Sangeet Natak Akademi Festival (Pune), the HCL Concert Series (New Delhi). Additionally, over the years, he has been featured frequently at the NCPA (Mumbai), India International Centre, and the India Habitat Centre (New Delhi).

Arnab’s overseas travels have seen him perform/lecture at the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), the UN (New York), The Silk Road Festival (Damascus and Aleppo, Syria), Sufi Festival (Amman), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center, Smith College, Vassar College, Eastern Connecticut State University, Thompson Center (Chicago City Hall), The Birmingham Festival (Alabama), North Africa, and the Millenaris Center, Budapest.

Outside the Classical Solo Sphere…

In 2004, Arnab performed on the soundtrack of what went on to be the 2005 Oscar winner in the documentary section, Born into Brothels, with a soundtrack by John McDowell. He has also contributed extensively to numerous commercial film soundtracks in Mumbai, working with noted music directors. Arnab’s Sarode accompaniment to legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar in the album Saadgi is particularly illustrative of his versatility. Although he is a deeply committed traditionalist, Arnab has always believed that experimentation opens doors for learning, and in this spirit, has been a part of numerous collaborations around the world.

As a student at Hampshire College, Arnab participated in a venture directed by bluegrass guitarist Michael Daves and banjo ace Gordon Stone that sought to bring together the sounds of the guitar, Sarode and the Appalachian anjo. This project featured, among others, noted jazz flautist Margo Edwards, along with Chakrabarty, Daves, Sone and bassist Aaron Germaine.

Arnab Chakrabarty currently shares strong collaborative relationships with trumpet player and composer Martin Dahanukar, and percussionist Somnath Roy. In October 2010, Arnab participated in the Silk Road Festival, giving concerts across Syria, as one among 23 soloists selected from across Asia, the Arab world and Europe. In the process, he had the opportunity of collaborating with international artistes such as Husain Sabsaby (oud), Keyvan Saket (tar), Guillermo Guillen (flamenco guitar), Hasan Falih (qanun), Nasser Salameh (percussion), Ahmet Toz (turkish nai), and vocalists Lotfi Bouchnak and Fadwa Al Malki.

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