Bengali music comprises a long tradition of religious and secular song-writing over a period of almost a millennium. Composed with lyrics in the Bengali language, Bengali music spans a wide variety of styles.
The music of West Bengal includes multiple indigenous musical genres such as Baul, Ramprasadi, Bishnupuri Classical, Kirtan, Shyama Sangeet, Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Geeti, Dwijendrageeti, Prabhat Samgiita, Agamani-Vijaya, Patua Sangeet, Gambhira, Bhatiali, Bhawaiya, Bengali Rock.
Ustad Allauddin Khan, was an Indian sarod player and multi-instrumentalist, composer and one of the most notable music teachers of the 20th century in Indian classical music. For a generation many of his students, across different instruments like sitar and violin, dominated Hindustani classical and became one of the most famous exponents of the form ever, including his son Ali Akbar Khan.
Mohan veena refers to either of two distinct plucked string instruments used in Indian classical music, especially Hindustani classical music which is associated with the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent.
Pandit Nikhil Ranjan Banerjee was an Indian classical sitarist of the Maihar Gharana. Along with Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan, he emerged as one of the leading exponents of the sitar. He was a recipient of the Indian civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan.
Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty is a Hindustani classical vocalist, composer, lyricist and an exponent of the Patiala-Kasur gharana. He was given Padma Bhushan Award, the third highest civilian award in India in 2020.
The dotara is a two-stringed, plucked musical instrument from Bengal, South Asia, with most contemporary models having four playing strings. It is the national instrument of Bangladesh. The dotara is played in combination with other instruments in bhawaiya, murshidi, marfati, jari gan and kavigan. Comparatively, the sarod is a slightly larger and more elaborate instrument, being built with an additional set of resonant sympathetic strings. However, the dotara is still quite resonant and projective of its own sound, due to its rounded shape and overall construction. It is commonly played in Bangladesh and the Indian states of Assam, West Bengal and Bihar. It was mentioned in a 14th-century Saptakanda Ramayana. Later, it was adopted by the ascetic cults of Bauls and Fakirs.
Moushumi Bhowmik is an Indian singer-songwriter, writer and researcher based in Kolkata, she is known to perform Bengali folk songs, as well as her own compositions. She has released four albums― Tumio Chil Hao (1994), Ekhono Galpo Lekho (2000), Ami Ghor Bahir Kori (2001), Songs from 26H (2017). She has composed for documentaries and art cinema. Bhowmik created The Travelling Archive, based on field recordings from Bengal. Moushumi Bhowmik holds a PhD from the School of Cultural Texts and Records, Jadavpur University for her work on the wax cylinder recordings of Arnold Bake from Bengal from the 1930s. The title of her PhD thesis is 'Songs of Absence and Presence: Listening to the Arnold Bake Wax Cylinders from Bengal 1931-34'.
Krosswindz is a Bengali rock/folk-fusion band, based in Kolkata, India. They have played all over India and abroad and have helped urbanize the folk music of Bengal and have tried to make it popular. Krosswindz is one of the few Kolkata-based Bengali rock bands who have female singers for their lead/main vocals.
Buddhadev Das Gupta was an Indian classical musician who played the sarod. He used to reside in Kolkata, India. He was one of the artists featured in Nimbus Records' The Raga Guide.
Arnab Chakrabarty is a Hindustani classical musician and sarod player based in Toronto, Canada.
Pandit Kumar Bose, born 4 April 1953, is an Indian tabla musician and composer of Indian classical music.
Pandit Shankar Ghosh was an Indian Tabla player from the Farukhabad gharana of Hindustani classical music. He has revolutionized both the art of Tabla solo playing as well as Tabla accompaniment. His many compositions have become an intrinsic part of the contemporary Tabla repertoire.
Paul Livingstone is an American sitarist, composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is one of the few American disciples of Pandit Ravi Shankar, also trained under Rajeev Taranath and Amiya Dasgupta all of the Senia Maihar Gharana.
Tanmoy Bose, whose name is often preceded by the title Pandit (Master), is an Indian percussionist and tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer. He has collaborated with Pandit Ravi Shankar, Anoushka Shankar and Amjad Ali Khan, and created the musical group The Taal Tantra Experience in 2002.
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,Legendary tabla player of Banares Gharana Pandit Kumar Bose,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.
Subhamita Banerjee is an Indian Bengali singer who specializes in modern songs, Ghazals etc. She has many Bengali albums to her credit and is one of the well-known singers in the Bengali music industry.
Abhisek Lahiri is an Indian classical sarod player trained in the three major gharanas of sarod:Shahjahanpur, Maihar gharana, and Senia Bangash (Gwalior), under his father and guru Pt. Alok Lahiri. Primarily he belongs to the Maihar gharana.
Soumik Datta is a Bengali-born British Indian musician and composer, who specialises in the sarod. He was born in Mumbai and brought up in London. His brother is the photographer and filmmaker Souvid Datta.
Arko Mukherjee is an International musician, music researcher, Urban folk artist, playback singer from Calcutta, India. He sings folk songs in various languages including Bengali and Nepali. The singer can sing in more than 20 languages and plays five different instruments. He sings folk music to blues, soul and several tribal music forms from different parts of the world. He researches on the roots of folk and contemporary music by travelling around different parts of the world as Europe, America, Bangladesh and Nepal.
