Chhandayan

Last updated
Chhandayan, Inc.
Formation1984 (India), 1998 (U.S.A.)
Headquarters4 W. 43rd Street #616
New York, NY 10036
Founder
Samir Chatterjee [1]
Website Official site

Chhandayan, Inc. (Chhandayan) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization focused on the preservation and advancement of Indian classical music. Chhandayan was founded in 1984 by Samir Chatterjee, the current Artistic Director and President. Its activities span various areas of music education which include organizing concerts and pre-concert lectures, classes (theory and performance), workshops, and archival research. Chhandayan’s primary operations are based out of its New York City headquarters, the Chhandayan Center for Indian Music (CCIM), but its activities are carried out in six local chapters.

Contents

History

Chhandayan traces its roots to 1984 in Kolkata, India where it used to organize Indian classical music concerts designed to offer a platform for young musicians. In 1998, it was reestablished in the United States as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization limited to offering musical instruction and small-scale concerts. Over the next several years, the organization added more students and faculty, eventually forming local chapters in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida. Chhandayan's largest presence is in the New York metropolitan area, but the Washington metropolitan area is a significant source of students, faculty, and audience members as well. Samir Chatterjee is the Founder, Artistic Director, and President of Chhandayan. He is a leading Tabla player and represents the Farukhabad gharana (school) of tabla playing. Chatterjee's performances, lectures, and teachings have made contributions to both Indian and other world music traditions. His compositions and writings are widely acclaimed.

Timeline of Key Events

Activities

The various activities conducted by Chhandayan include:

Classes & Workshops

Chhandayan offers lessons and classes on different branches of Indian classical music including training in vocals, Violin, Sitar, Sarangi, Bansuri, Harmonium (hand-pumped), and Tabla. Training in Indian classical dance including Kathak is also offered on a weekly basis at CCIM. Although modern technology has created the ability to reach students across the world, music instruction at Chhandayan is generally based upon the Guru-shishya tradition. Throughout the week, Chhandayan offers classes for Indian classical music and Tabla under the guidance of a Guru, mainly geared towards young students. There is an annual four-day Tabla workshop each summer run by Samir Chatterjee which draws students of all levels from various parts of North America. Affiliated faculty members who have run workshops in the past include Ajoy Chakrabarty (Vocal), Shujaat Khan (Sitar), Nayan Ghosh (Tabla), and other top Indian classical musicians.

Chhandayan has approximately 250 students, many of whom are professional musicians in various parts of the world. Among the most prominent Chhandayan students include: Daniel Weiss, [10] Eric Phinney, [11] Bodek Janke, [12] Debu Nayak, [13] Frank Colón, Dibyarka Chatterjee, [14] Ranendra Das, [15] among others. Annual workshops and seminars draw in approximately 100 additional students from the Americas and Europe.

Publications & Archives

Chhandayan engages in the publication and archival of resource material to promote research in the classical arts of India. Chhandayan's published books include A Study of Tabla, the 650-page text on Indian music theory and Tala (music); Ravi Shankar, a former member of the organization's Advisory Board, wrote the foreword to the book. [4] Chhandayan has also published Music of India, an introductory text to Indian classical music concepts. It has published approximately ten works in the form of recorded media including an audiobook on the style and diction of Rabindranath Tagore which is currently in final editorial stages. Chhandayan's works have often addressed those aspects of Indian classical music that have become absent on the concert platform.

Social Contributions & Productions

Chhandayan's service focuses primarily on education, resources, archival preservation, and research. Its overall mission is to educate people not only about music, but also about the social context in which it is to be created and experienced. For example, Chhandayan has been involved in the music revival of Afghanistan. It has actively brought some of the shared musical tradition from outside the country back to Afghanistan to achieve some degree of cultural revival. [16] It is also working with local Afghan authorities in the adoption of musically inclined orphans.

Chhandayan seeks to transform what is commonly considered "high art" into something with more staying power. Acting on that belief, it has channeled several students to work with incarcerated adults and their children. It hopes to bring loved ones in need of rehabilitation closer through music. This project is focused in the Washington metropolitan area.

Most of the operations and activities are run by volunteers within the organization and world music community. For example, Chhandayan allows students to make non-financial contributions (namely, volunteering in the offices of CCIM) to expand the community's access to its educational resources. Also, a team of volunteers for the Annual All-Night Concert is charged every year with outreach efforts. [17]

Finally, as a music organization Chhandayan intends to enhance awareness regarding the importance of music in general in present society. Much of this takes place through new works, productions, and compositions under the artistic leadership of founding director Samir Chatterjee. In 2009, Chatterjee composed and directed "Tablaphilia," a symphony for twenty-five Tabla players and four vocalists which interprets the four stages of life according to Hindu philosophy (ashramas). In 2011, Chhandayan produced and performed "RabiThakur," a ballet on the life of Rabindranath Tagore. The ballet integrates Western and Eastern expressions of contemporary music and dance and the choreography, by Ryan Daniel Beck, [18] is set to music arranged and composed by Chatterjee. [19]

The Concert Series & the Annual All-Night Concert

Since 1984, Chhandayan has advanced the learning and appreciation of Indian classical music through concert experiences. Chhandayan presents regular series of concerts and pre-concert lectures in New York and in its other local chapters. The Concert Series, performances of Indian classical music or world music, is frequently held on weekend evenings in Chhandayan's various locations. CCIM tends to draw the largest audience members including those traveling from upstate New York, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, and the Beltway. Chhandayan's presence in various geographic footprints provides young artists with not only an audience through the Concert Series, but also access to mentorship, audience-building tools, and performance and teaching opportunities.

The capstone of the Concert Series is the Annual All-Night Concert which is currently in the fifteenth season. Since 2008, it has been held at the New York Society for Ethical Culture and draws close to 600 audience members throughout the night. The format, an all-night music festival, is rare outside of South Asia. Based on Chhandayan's network of matured musicians, the All-Night Concert provides an opportunity to hear and understand ragas, the underpinning melodic structures and scales of Indian classical music, at the late night and early morning hours. [20] Various ragas are designed to express select moods from audience members and are performed throughout the night by Chhandayan's performing artists. [17] The annual event in Manhattan is organized primarily by community volunteers and it draws a highly diverse audience. [17] In 2010, the Annual All-Night Concert was also held for the first time in Toronto; it is currently in the fourth season there. [21]

Jyotsna Awards in Contribution

Since 2005, Chhandayan has acknowledged the contributions of some extraordinary individuals and institutions with the Jyotsna Awards in Contribution. Contributions from six areas are recognized annually: presentation, publication, academia, documentation, Guru, and Shishya. The Jyotsna Awards are considered a high accolade within the genre and its recipients have made significant contributions toward the growth of Indian classical music in North America. [22]

Collaboration with World Music

Chhandayan develops new work and productions offering insights into the scope of Indian music and its relationship with other musical and cultural traditions. To that end, it frequently works with musicians of other disciplines. [23] For example, Chhandayan World Percussion Ensemble (CWPE) is an ensemble of percussion instruments from Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Indo-Flame is a blend of Indian and Flamenco dance and music. Dawn to Dusk and Beyond depicts the correspondence and influence of all types of music on physiology and the environment. Raga-Rock, a collaboration of Indian classical and Pakistani Sufi rock music with Salman Ahmed, performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo in 2007. [5] Chhandayan has also collaborated on world music projects in Western Classical music and ballet.

Faculty

Chhandayan has a number of regular faculty members, with Daniel Weiss [10] and Samarth Nagarkar [24] as Co-directors for Academic Affairs. Notable faculty includes Ramesh Mishra, Steve Gorn, Mitali Banerjee Bhawmik, [25] and Samir Chatterjee. Chhandayan's educators do not just teach the fundamentals of Indian classical music, but also how to home in on aesthetic sensibilities and learn how to be a performer and a listener. The teachers are performers themselves who initiate and develop the students' skills in the Guru-shishya tradition. Some members also serve as visiting faculty at the University of Pittsburgh, Yale University, Manhattan School of Music, New School of Music, and other institutions. Chhandayan maintains close ties with senior faculty of The Pandit Jasraj Institute for Music, Research, Artistry and Appreciation (PJIM). The Director of PJIM, Tripti Mukherjee, is a visiting faculty member of Chhandayan and received a 2010 Jyotsna Award in Contribution. [26] Other prominent visiting faculty members include Ajoy Chakrabarty (Vocal) and Shujaat Khan (Sitar).

Administration & Board Members

Chhandayan is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of eight members. Further to the service-based mission, all members are voluntary workers who devote time and energy for the advancement of world music. Similarly, Chhandayan receives international support from its thirteen-member Advisory Board. Notable musicians on the Advisory Board include Jasraj, Ramesh Mishra, Ned Rothenberg, [27] and Lyle Wachovsky. [28] Ravi Shankar served as a key Advisory Board member from 1998 to December 2012. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravi Shankar</span> Indian musician and sitar player (1920–2012)

Ravi Shankar was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Indian classical music in the second half of the 20th century, and influenced many musicians in India and throughout the world. Shankar was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zakir Hussain (musician)</span> Indian tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer

Ustad Zakir Hussain is an Indian tabla player, composer, percussionist, music producer and film actor. He is the eldest son of tabla player Alla Rakha.

Steve Gorn is a bamboo flautist and saxophone player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jasraj</span> Indian classical singer (1930–2020)

Pandit Jasraj was an Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Mewati gharana. His musical career spanned 75 years resulting in national and international fame, respect and numerous major awards and accolades. His legacy includes memorable performances of classical and semi-classical vocal music, classical and devotional music, albums and film soundtracks, innovations in various genres including Haveli Sangeeth and popularizing the Mewati Gharana - a school of thought in Hindustani classical music. Pandit Jasraj taught music to amateur and professional students in India, Europe, Canada and the United States.

Indo jazz is a musical genre consisting of jazz, classical and Indian influences. Its structure and patterns are based on Indian music with typical jazz improvisation overlaid. While the term itself may be comparatively recent, the concept dates at least to the mid-1950s. Musicians including John Coltrane, Yusef Lateef and others reflect Indian influences.

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

Aashish Khan Debsharma is an Indian classical musician, a player of the sarod. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2006 in the 'Best World Music' category for his album "Golden Strings of the Sarode". He is also a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Besides being a performer, composer, and conductor, he is also an adjunct professor of Indian classical music at the California Institute of the Arts, and the University of California at Santa Cruz, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swapan Chaudhuri</span> Musical artist

Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, is an Indian tabla player. He has accompanied several musicians of Indian classical music, including, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pandit Bhimshen Joshi, Pandit Jasraj., Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and many more. He also taught his sons tabla.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ram Narayan</span> Classical sarangi player from India

Ram Narayan, often referred to with the title Pandit, is an Indian musician who popularised the bowed instrument sarangi as a solo concert instrument in Hindustani classical music and became the first internationally successful sarangi player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaushiki Chakraborty</span> Indian classical vocalist

Kaushiki Chakraborty is an Indian classical vocalist and a composer. She attended Sangeet Research Academy, and was one of the exponents of Patiala gharana. Her repertoire covers pure classical, Khyals, Dadras, Thumris etc. and several other forms of Indian music. She is the recipient 2005 BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music in the Asia-Pacific category. She is the daughter of Hindustani classical vocalist, Ajoy Chakraborty and she has held performances with him as well as her husband, Parthasarathi Desikan. In 2020, she was awarded Nari Shakti Puraskar. Kaushiki is also a trained Carnatic Classical Vocalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kumar Bose</span> Musical artist

Pandit Kumar Bose, born 4 April 1953, is an Indian tabla musician and composer of Indian classical music.

Pandit Motiram Pandit Maniram Sangeet Samaroh is an annual Indian classical music festival held at Chowmahalla Palace in Hyderabad, India. The festival is organised by noted classical singer Pt. Jasraj in memory of his father and brother, both classical musicians. Jasraj always performs on 30 November every year, his father's death anniversary and a tribute to Jasraj’s guru, his mentor and elder brother, Maniram, who died in 1986, and Jasraj renamed the festival to include his brother's name.

Brij Narayan is an Indian classical musician who plays the string instrument sarod. Narayan was born in the Indian state Rajasthan and began to study sarod from a young age under his father Ram Narayan and other teachers. He won the All India Radio instrumentalist competition in 1967 and accompanied his father on a tour to Afghanistan in 1969. Narayan graduated from the University of Mumbai in 1972 and has since worked on movies and toured Africa, Europe, and America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tripti Mukherjee</span> Musical artist

Pandita Tripti Mukherjee is an American classical vocalist. She belongs to Mewati Gharana. She is the founder and director of the Pandit Jasraj Institute for Music, Research, Artistry and Appreciation.

Debopriya Chatterjee and Suchismita Chatterjee are sisters by birth, popularly known as the "flute sisters". They are Indian Hindustani music artists who play instrumental Indian flute music.

<i>Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000</i> 2001 live album by Ravi Shankar

Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000 is a live album by Indian musician and composer Ravi Shankar, released in 2001 through the record label Angel Records. Recorded at Carnegie Hall in October 2000 as part of a tour with Shankar's daughter Anoushka, the album contains five tracks and presents two ragas. The concert occurred sixty-two years after Shankar's first performance at Carnegie Hall and commemorated his eightieth birthday; the album was his first live recording in nearly twenty years. Full Circle was produced by Hans Wendl, mastered by Scott Hull, and mixed and engineered by Tom Lazarus. Featured are performances by Tanmoy Bose and Bickram Ghosh on tabla, and Anoushka and Ravi on sitar.

<i>In Concert 1972</i> 1973 live album by Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan

In Concert 1972 is a double live album by sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar and sarodiya Ali Akbar Khan, released in 1973 on Apple Records. It was recorded at the Philharmonic Hall, New York City, in October 1972, and is a noted example of the two Hindustani classical musicians' celebrated jugalbandi (duet) style of playing. With accompaniment from tabla player Alla Rakha, the performance reflects the two artists' sorrow at the recent death of their revered guru, and Khan's father, Allauddin Khan. The latter was responsible for many innovations in Indian music during the twentieth century, including the call-and-response dialogue that musicians such as Shankar, Khan and Rakha popularised among Western audiences in the 1960s.

<i>Swara Samrat festival</i>

Swara Samrat festival is a four-day annual festival of Indian classical music and dance held during the winters in Kolkata, India. This festival is the brainchild of Sarod maestro Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, his vocalist wife, Manasi Majumder and their Sarod player-son Indrayuddh Majumder. The festival is dedicated to Swara Samrat Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Indian Classical Music and Dance Legends such as Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pandit Jasraj, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Aashish Khan, Dr. Girija Devi, Begum Parveen Sultana, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, Guru Karaikudi Mani, Ustad Rashid Khan, Shankar Mahadevan, Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee, Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, Pandit Venkatesh Kumar, Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, Pandit Sanjay Mukherjee, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Ustad Shujaat Khan, Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, Pandit Kushal Das, Pandit Rajendra Gangani, Guru Sujata Mohapatra, Pandit Subhankar Banerjee, Pandit Yogesh Samsi, Pandit Bickram Ghosh, Pandit Tanmoy Bose and Kaushiki Chakraborty are some of the artists who have previously performed in this festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manilal Nag</span> Musical artist

Pandit Manilal Nag is an Indian classical sitar player and an exponent of the Bishnupur gharana of Bengal. He was given the Padma Shri Award, the fourth highest civilian award in India in 2020.

Pandit Nikhil Jyoti Ghosh was an Indian musician, teacher and writer, known his proficiency on the percussion instrument of tabla. He founded Sangit Mahabharati, an institution of music in 1956, and performed on various stages in India and abroad. A recipient of the Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan Award, his style was known to have been aligned with the Delhi, Ajrada, Farukhabad, Lucknow and Punjab gharanas of music. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1990, for his contributions to Music.

Utsav Lal is an Indian pianist, educator, composer, and performing musician. Based out of New York, his work on the piano has been deeply influenced by Dhrupad and Indian classical music.

References

  1. ↑ "Profile of Samir Chatterjee". The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  2. ↑ Liz Seubert (October 19, 2001). "BERA Indo-American Association Dinner-Concert Gains $12,100 for WTC Victims" (PDF). Brookhaven National Laboratory. p. 2. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  3. ↑ Dawning Ragas. Chhandayan Productions. 2005. OCLC   70658198 . Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  4. 1 2 Samir Chatterjee (2006). Allyn Miner (ed.). A Study of Tabla. Nutley, NJ: Chhandayan. ISBN   978-0984134908.
  5. 1 2 "The Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony 2007". Nobel Media AB. 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  6. ↑ Lara Pellegrinelli (May 21, 2010). "An Upbeat Afghan Story". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  7. ↑ Samir Chatterjee (January 4, 2009). Stephen Cellucci (ed.). Music of India. Chhandayan, Inc. ISBN   9780984134915.
  8. ↑ BWW News Desk (June 9, 2011). "TABLAPHILIA Held On The Steps Of The Met Museum". BWW. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  9. ↑ "Chhandayan Presents a Fundraising Concert for Afghanistan!". HarmoNYom. 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  10. 1 2 "Official Website of Daniel Weiss". Dan Weiss. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  11. ↑ "Profile of Eric Phinney". Bloomingdale School of Music. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  12. ↑ "Tabla maestro Pandit Samir Chatterjee and Chhandayan of New York City". Bodek Janke. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  13. ↑ "Official Website of Devapriya Nayak". Debu Nayak. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  14. ↑ "Disciple of Pandit Samir Chatterjee". Dibyarka Chatterjee. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  15. ↑ "Initiated by Pandit Samir Chatterjee". Ranendra Das. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  16. ↑ Ronni Reich (June 27, 2010). "Samir Chatterjee is a musician on a mission". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  17. 1 2 3 "Highlights & Interviews from Chhandayan's 9th Annual All-Night Concert". Chhandayan, Inc. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  18. ↑ "Profile of Ryan Daniel Beck". Broadway Dance Center NYC. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  19. ↑ "Rabi Thakur: A Ballet on the Life of Rabindranath Tagore". CCIM. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  20. ↑ Anastasia Tsioulcas (September 13, 2012). "Another Reason To Skip Sleep: Indian Classical Music". National Public Radio. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  21. ↑ "Canada Hosts Its First All-night Indian Classical Concert in Toronto". mybindi.com. November 5, 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  22. ↑ "Background of Chhandayan Jyotsna Awards". Chhandayan, Inc. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  23. ↑ "An Interview with Samir Chatterjee". Live Is Better!. December 15, 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  24. ↑ "Profile of Samarth Nagarkar". Samarth Nagarkar. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  25. ↑ "Mitali Bhawmik: Awards & Affiliations". Mitali Banerjee Bhawmik. Retrieved 17 March 2013. She also teaches at Chhandayan facility in New York.
  26. ↑ "Pta. Tripti Mukherjee: Honors & Awards". Tripti Mukherjee. Retrieved 17 March 2013. Pta. Tripti Mukherjee's major awards include: the Chhandayan Jyotsna Award
  27. ↑ "The Challenge of World Music for the Creative Musician". NEDROTHENBERG.COM. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  28. ↑ "Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani". The Hindu . March 29, 2004. Archived from the original on September 30, 2004. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  29. ↑ Samir Chatterjee (December 20, 2012). "In Memory of Ravi Shankar" . Retrieved 17 March 2013. Chhandayan has his blessings in all of the developments we have undertaken.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.