ARTISTS

One of the best-known Sarod players of the present generation, Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar has long achieved that order of excellence and popular acceptability which ensures one’s place in posterity. He had an early initiation into music by his grandfather, the late Bibhuti Ranjan Majumdar, and his considerable talent was later nurtured by his father, the late Ranjan Majumdar. Tejendra received vocal and rhythm training under Late Pandit Amaresh Chowdhury and Sri Anil Palit, which further ensured a holistic musical development in him. Tejendra was then accepted by the late Ustad Bahadur Khan as his disciple.

Eighteen years of intensive study under Ustad Bahadur Khan matured his talent into a true genius. Recognition of his abilities came in 1981, when he stood first in the All India Radio Music Competition and was awarded the President’s Gold Medal and the Pandit D.V. Paluskar award. After the untimely demise of his guru, he studied under the late Sri Ajay Sinha Roy, and then under one of the Legends of Indian Music: the late Swar-Samrat Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, until his demise. One of the best equipped musicians to carry on the great Senia Maihar mantle, Tejendra combines the intellectual density and technical virtuosity of his gharana, with an extraordinary tone, touch and an ambient melody which transcends any qualification. Above all, he has, in abundant measure, that indescribable ability to take the listeners along with him—the rare quality that is the hallmark of a genius. He is also a Top Grade artist of A.I.R and Doordarshan.

Tejendra’s brilliance and popularity as a classical artiste has not dimmed his interest in composing, arranging and experimenting in other areas of music. From composing the background score of meaningful films to musical ballets, Tejendra is always ready to take on any musical challenge. He has composed the music for the Bengali films like “Shongshoy” and “Hononkal,” by Saibal Mitra, “Tollylights” by Arjun Chakraborty, and a lot of Telefilms. He has also composed and arranged music for different singers, such as Ghulam Ali, Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty, Haimanti Shukla, Arati Mukherjee, and more.

Most of his time is, however, taken up in touring the country and abroad—presenting innumerable concerts, workshops, and lecture demonstrations, as well as doing recordings and taking up teaching assignments. Within the country he is a regular artiste in the premiere concert circuit; while in Europe, Canada and in the United States, his popularity has ensured his regular representation in some of the most prestigious venues. Within Europe, Tejendra has found remarkable popularity in the countries of France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Austria and U.K. He is also very popular in the Asian countries of U.A.E., Thailand, Singapore, Japan and Bangladesh. Constraint of space will not allow an exhaustive catalogue of this genius—only a short, representative one. In 2009, he was invited by none other than Pandit Ravi Shankar to perform at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California.