‘Saraswat’- A musical voyage to eternity

‘Saraswat’ – it will be an evening with Hindustani music on Sarod presented by Bangalore Sarod Foundation. Bangalore Sarod Foundation is a non-profit initiative to promote a very niche classical Art craft called 'Sarod'. It’s registered under Karnataka Societies Act, 1960 as a trust. This concert will be featuring  Arnab Chakrabarty on Sarod and Soumen Sarkar on Tabla.    

Arnab Chakrabarty is an outstanding exponent of Hindustani classical music and is arguably among the top handful of currently active sarode players. A relentlessly self-improving student of music, a teacher of extraordinary ability, an instrument designer and restorer of considerable skill, Arnab Chakrabarty is the complete sarode musician of his generation.

Arnab's performances are noteworthy for a profound understanding of raga, deep erudition of both the sarode tradition and of Hindustani music in general, controlled virtuosity and an exquisite tonal quality. Trained by the late Kalyan Mukherjea (1943-2010), a disciple of Radhika Mohan Maitra, the legendary custodian of the Shahjahanpur tradition of sarode music, Arnab is described by his teacher as “the best representative today, of the musical values I had inherited from Pandit Maitra”.

Arnab received his initial training from maestros Brij Narayan and Buddhadev Dasgupta and has supplemented his musical education with vocal training from Pandit Yashwantbuwa Joshi (1926-2012), and sitar music from Vinayak Chittar, an inimitable sitar maestro.

Arnab performs on a sarode that is said to be between 110 and 130 years old and has been handed down over five generations of master musicians and has performed worldwide over the past decade, earning the admiration of listeners and respect of his peers.

In the past decade, Arnab has performed across the world to considerable acclaim, and has contributed to several projects, including the Masters of Indian Music (Trafo, Budapest 2012), Silk Road Festival (Damascus, 2010), and the soundtrack of ‘Born Into Brothels, Calcutta's Red-Light Children’ (Oscar winner: 2005). Early in his career, Arnab has performed at almost all of the top concert venues in India, where he made a considerable impact with his craft.

Presently, Arnab bases himself in Toronto, Canada and performs regularly in India and across the world.

Soumen Sarkar has been initiated into the art of tabla playing from the tabla maestro, late Pandit Anand Bodas. His style and technique imbibed from his guru has taken him around the globe and has earned him recognition as an accomplished tabla player, both in solo recitals as well as an accompanist.

Soumen has toured extensively in the United States and South Asian countries participating in numerous concerts and music festivals. He has conducted workshops in schools and colleges. Apart from his classical tabla accompaniment, Soumen also performs with the light classical and ghazal maestros like Ghulam Ali and Hariharan. Soumen's dedication to his art coupled with his talent and experience have enabled him to join the latest generation of top-ranking tabla players.