Asit Kumar Banerjee

Last updated
Asit Kumar Banerjee
Occupations
  • musician
  • teacher
SpouseArati Banerjee
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)
Website http://panditasitkumarbanerjee.com

Asit Kumar Banerjee is one of the few remaining rudra veena players in India. He is the disciple of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, and can play both Sitar and rudra veena. He was the head of the Department of Instrumental Music in The Anand Foundation, Punjab, and has performed many rudra veena concerts both in India and abroad. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Career

Asit Kumar Banerjee started learning Tabla at the age of six. His earliest master was V.C. Ambedkar of Benares gharana, and continued his lessons with Amir Hussain Khan of Mumbai. Later he became the student of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and learnt Sitar, Surbahar and rudra veena. He received training also from Fariuddin Dagar, of Dagar Gharana. Asit Banerjee prefers dhrupad style of playing. [4]

He is a member of East Zone Cultural Centre (E.Z.C.C.) and Indian Council for Cultural Relations (I.C.C.R.), an organization under the Ministry of External Affairs (India). Through his tours in India and abroad, he has tried to popularize the rudra veena by lecture-demonstrations and recordings for Television and Radio. [5] [6]

He was the music director for two documentary films about Sikh Regiments and about Ganges. He has worked as the head of the department of instrumental music in The Anand Foundation, Punjab. He also carry the title of Pramukh Acharya of Tansen Sangeet Vidyapith, Gwalior. Between 1986 and 1989 he has performed rudra veena in Doordarshan, together with his students.

Between 19 December 2003 and 30 December 2003, Asit Kumar Banerjee performed rudra veena in Belgium, France, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, under the sponsorship of I.C.C.R. [7]

Personal life

He is married to Arati Banerjee, and she is also a rudra veena player. She has performed together with Asit Kumar Banerjee in many concerts.

Related Research Articles

Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music, Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampradaya and also related to the South Indian Carnatic tradition. It is a term of Sanskrit origin, derived from dhruva and pada. The roots of Dhrupad are ancient. It is discussed in the Hindu Sanskrit text Natyashastra, and other ancient and medieval Sanskrit texts, such as chapter 33 of Book 10 in the Bhagavata Purana, where the theories of music and devotional songs for Krishna are summarized.

Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, shastriya sangeet. The term shastriya sangeet literally means classical music, and can also mean Indian classical music in general. It is played on instruments like the veena, sitar and sarod. Its origins from the 12th century CE, when it diverged from Carnatic music, the classical tradition in South India. While Carnatic music largely uses compositions produced in Dravidian languages and Sanskrit, Hindustani music largely uses compositions written in Punjabi, Rajasthani, Urdu, and Braj Bhasha.

Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, popularly known as Z. M. Dagar, was a North Indian (Hindustani) classical musician, one of the 19th generation of Dagar family dhrupad musicians. He was largely responsible for the revival of the rudra vina as a solo concert instrument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudra veena</span> Plucked string instrument

The Rudra veena —also called Bīn in North India—is a large plucked string instrument used in Hindustani Music, especially dhrupad. It is one of the major types of veena played in Indian classical music, notable for its deep bass resonance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mewati gharana</span>

The Mewati gharana is a musical apprenticeship tribe of Hindustani classical music. Known for being Pandit Jasraj's musical lineage, the gharana was founded by brothers Utd. Ghagge Nazir Khan and Utd. Wahid Khan (beenkar) of Indore in the late 19th century at the Holkar Court. Members of this gharana have had an active influence in Indian cinema for over half a century.

Zia Fariduddin Dagar was an Indian classical vocalist belonging to the Dhrupad tradition, the oldest existing form of north Indian classical music. He was part of the Dagar family of musicians.

Pandit Ritwik Sanyal is an Indian classical singer and the Dhrupad maestro from Varanasi. He is a retired professor and Ex Dean from the department of vocal music at the faculty of performing arts at Banaras Hindu University. On April 5th, 2023, Pandit (Dr.) Ritwik Sanyal was conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri award for 2023 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the revival and propagation of the Dhrupad tradition, both as an academician and performer. A recipient of the esteemed Kendriya Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2013, presented by the then Hon. President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, Pandit Ritwik Sanyal has now received the 4th highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, from President of India, Droupadi Murmu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gundecha Brothers</span> Musical artist

The Gundecha Brothers are Indian classical singers of the dhrupad genre of the Dagar vani. From 1985 to 2019 the duo consisted of brothers Umakant Gundecha and Ramakant Gundecha and were awarded the Padma Shri for art for 2012. Following the death of Ramakant Gundecha in 2019, his son Anant began to perform with Umakant in the Gundecha bandhu.

Mushtaq Ali Khan and was an Indian classical sitar, surbahar player.

Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, of Dagar Gharana of Dhrupad singing was an Indian dhrupad singer in the dagar-vani style, the second-eldest among four Dhrupad singing brothers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sursingar</span> Musical instrument

The sursingar, sursringar or surshringar, is a musical instrument originating from the Indian subcontinent having many similarities with the sarod. It is larger than the sarod and produces a deeper sound. It precedes the sarod chronologically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bahauddin Dagar</span> Hindustani classical music artiste

Baha'ud'din Mohiuddin Dagar is the rudra veena player and son of famous north Indian musician Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. He plays rudra veena with the dagarbani style. He represents the 20th generation of Dagar lineage, referring to Nayak Haridas Dagar of the 16th century. However, he traces his ancestry to Baba Gopal Das, who converted to Islam, and became Baba Imam Baksh in the 18th century, making him the representative of the 8th generation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asad Ali Khan</span> Musical artist

Asad Ali Khan was an Indian musician who played the plucked string instrument rudra veena. Khan performed in the style dhrupad and was described as the best living rudra veena player in India by The Hindu. He was awarded the Indian civilian honor Padma Bhushan in 2008.

Pandit Uday Bhawalkar is an Indian classical vocalist. He is an exponent of the dhrupad genre.

Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar was an exponent of Dagar vani Dhrupad of Indian classical music. He represented the 19th generation of Dagar Tradition. His cousins Nasir Moinuddin Dagar and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar were known as the Senior Dagar Brothers. Similarly, Nasir Zahiruddin and Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar were known as the Junior Dagar Brothers. His other cousins were Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, Fariduddin Dagar, and H. Sayeeduddin Dagar.

The Dagar vani is a tradition of the classical dhrupad genre of Hindustani classical music spanning 20 generations, tracing back to Swami Haridas, and including Behram Khan of Jaipur (1753-1878). For some generations its members were associated with the courts of Jaipur, Udaipur, and Mewar.

Gopeshwar Banerjee or Gopeshwar Bandopadhyay (1880–1963) was an Indian classical singer and musicologist, belonging to Bishnupur gharana of Hindustani music, which originated in Bishnupur in West Bengal. He was known for his khyal and dhrupad renditions, besides Rabindra Sangeet. He also sang thumri, and most notably the thumri, Kon Gali Gayo Shyam, in Raga Mishra Khamaj, which he popularised. As a musicologist, he published several books of rare compositions with musical notations, including dhrupad and Rabindra Sangeet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sombala Kumar</span> Indian Dhrupad Singer

Sombala Kumar is a Dhrupad vocalist of India. She studied with Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar, a singer of the 19th generation of the dynasty of Dagar Gharana. She also studied with Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar.

Pandit Hindraj Divekar was a virtuoso of the Rudra Veena and Sitar. He teaches the been in both Dhrupad and Khayal styles. Pandit Hindraj is one of the very few surviving rudra veena players in the world. He is the co-author of the book, Rudra Veena: An Ancient String Musical Instrument. He is the founder director of Hindgandharva Sangeet Academy, Pune.

Suvir Misra is an Indian player of Rudra Veena, Saraswati Veena, and Surbahar. He is unique in being a left handed artist who has mastered all the three veenas of the Indian classical music - the Rudra Veena, the Saraswati Veena and the Surbahar. He is the inventor of Misr Veena.

References

  1. "Sangeet Swarn: A golden chance for music lovers" . Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  2. "On man-making mission and more". Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  3. "Rashtriya Dhrupad Samaroh,2013". Archived from the original on 2014-06-06. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  4. "asit kumar banerjee performing at Dhrupad Mela, 2012, Varanasi". Archived from the original on 2014-06-06. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  5. "About Asit Kumar Banerjee" . Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  6. "Akademi Golden Jubilee Music Festival 2003 Hyderabad". Archived from the original on 2014-06-06. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  7. "Performances" . Retrieved 2014-06-03.