Arnab Chakrabarty was born in Bombay, India, in 1979. His musical training started at the age of three and by the time he was five, he was performing on stage as a singer, as well as a sarod and tabla player.
Arnab’s musical training continued under Shri Brij Narayan and later with Pandit Nayan Ghosh and his musical personality flowered under the rigorous tutelage of Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta, one of the greatest sarod players of all time. Arnab has also received musical guidance from Anirban Dasgupta and Prattyush Banerjee.
He is deeply influenced by Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and the late Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Arnab gave his first formal concert at age thirteen, and has been a touring musician since he was fifteen. He also started working as a recording artist in Bombay’s film industry while still in his teens.
In 1997, Arnab received a scholarship from the Ministry of Human Resources, Government of India, in recognition of his musical talent, and in 1998, his musical excellence propelled him to a full-scholarship at Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts (USA), where he received degrees in Music and International Relations in 2002.
Chakrabarty has performed at almost all of India’s leading music festivals and venues, including the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Bombay), Nehru Centre (Bombay), Habitat World (Delhi), Radhikamohan Maitra Music Conference (Calcutta), and on many occasions on All India Radio and Doordarshan (Indian National Television). He has also performed and recorded extensively in the United States and Europe at major concert venues.
Fusing a highly-practiced, virtuoso approach with erudition and knowledge, Arnab Chakrabarty is already considered an innovator in the realm of sarod music. He has contributed to the continuing process of assimilating the khayal vocal style into the sarod’s expressive range by helping modify the instrument to meet those exacting standards, and invented and patented an electric sarod, the first solid-body instrument of its kind.
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Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.