ARTISTS

Purbayan Chatterjee is considered as one of the finest sitar players in Indian Classical music, and has attained a very special place for himself among the musicians and music lovers around the world. Purbayan belongs to the famous Senia Maihar Gharana, the school established by musical genius Baba Allauddin Khan, the guru of such artists as Ustad Ali Akbar Khan on the sarod, and sitar players Pandit Ravi Shankar and Pandit Nikhil Banerjee. Purbayan also studied directly with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.

Purbayan is a multifaceted musician. Along with his concerts of North Indian raga music, he also performs with musicians from the South Indian raga tradition and world musicians all over the globe. He has participated in various fusion projects with jazz, and his music has been appreciated by jazz greats, such as Chick Corea, Bella Fleck, and Pat Metheney. Purbayan is also an astounding vocalist and has lent his soulful voice to many mellifluous compositions.

With a career spanning 26 years, his soulful and dexterous performances have evoked praise and admiration in various music festivals in India and abroad. Awards and accolades came his way early in life. Purbayan was a recipient of the President of India Award for being the Best Instrumentalist of the country at the age of 15. He has also received the prestigious Aditya Vikram Birla Award for excellence and contributions to the field. He has been awarded the highest artist-grade by the All India Radio.

Purbayan has designed the DWO, which is a doppelganger of the Indian Sitar. Purbayan’s DWO celebrates the “oneness of two”. It creates sound where the acoustic and the digital, the ancient and the modern, the ethnic and the urban, and the esoteric and the virtuosic all complement each other and become one.