Vidushi Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay

Profile

Vidushi Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay, one of the leading vocalists of the present generation and a vocal exponent of Lucknow, Patiala and Indore Gharana, heralds the oncoming of an exquisite Khayal style blended together with tradition, imagination and originality. She is gifted with a golden voice, ranging more than three octaves, with the ultimate soprano and gorgeous tonality. Immense knowledge, musical aesthetics, perfection and impeccable mastery over the Classical and Semi Classical Vocal genre are the salient features of Sangeeta’s music. Her performance encompasses the styles and mostly the priceless compositions established by Sangeetacharya Chinmoy Lahiri, Ustad Bade Ghoolamali Khan, and Ustad Ameer Khan. Her specialisation lies in rendering subtle, intricate and emotional movements of notes with perfect “Ragdari” in Vistar, stunning rhythmic variations in Bat & Boltan, fast and wide variety of effortless movement, highlighting all the forms like Murchana, Alankar, Sapat, Halak, Gamak, Meerkhand in Tan & Sargam.

T The proud daughter of the internationally famed Tabla maestro, Pandit Sankha Chatterjee and Late Sujata Chatterjee, Sangeeta, is a rare vocalist of her generation, to have received extensive training of three illustrious Gharanas (schools) of Khayal singing from great maestros. Since the age of nine she started learning from Late Sangeetacharya Chinmoy Lahiri of Luckhnow Gharana and received enormous training on perfect voice throwing, spontaneous improvisation based on intricate melodic combinations and numerous scales at the very tender age. She is the most fortunate disciple to perform together onstage with her Guruji at the tender age of fifteen. Subsequent to his demise, Sangeeta received rigorous training on Khayal and Thumri from Ustad Munawar Ali Khan of Patiala Gharana (the worthy son of theGreat Ustad Bade Ghulamali Khan) for a long time. Since last sixteen years she is studying the essence of Ameerkhani Gayaki of Khayal singing and compositions under her father-in-law Pandit Kamal Bandyopadhyay of Indore Gharana, the most authoritative disciple and the closest associate of the Great Ustad Ameer Khan. Sangeeta was also privileged to come in close contact with great maestros like, Ustad Keramattulla Khan, Ustad Allarakha Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pandit V.G.Jog, Pandit Kishen Maharaj, to name a few and to receive their blessings and priceless musical advices.

Besides her illustrious musical career Sangeeta holds a Bachelor’s degree with Hons, in Economics from Jadavpur University and a Masters degree in Music from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. She is a TOP Grade vocalist of All India Radio and Television. Since last twenty years she has been enthralling her audiences at numerous prestigious conferences in India, USA, Canada, Germany, Italy, UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands and many other countries, through her magical performances. There are five international CD releases (world premier) to her credit, namely, “Shruti”, “Bhakti”, “Puja” “Double Sunrise over Neptune”& ''Sangita” which are available worldwide, and especially marketed and sold by iTunes Store. The last two fusion CDs have created ripples in the World Music category. One of her numbers has been featured as Best Indian Import in a musical collage called ‘’India CD’’ published by Petrol. She has also performed at a number of Indo-Jazz fusion with several reputed Jazz musicians of Europe and America like the famous William Parker, Hamid Drake, Jocelyn B. Smith, and many others, resulting in quite a few successful fusion CDs released from Europe and USA.

Sangeeta's virtuosity combined with devotional approach and a strong penchant for perfection, gives her a unique style of her own, which is alsways reflected in her mellifluous rendering of Khayal, Thumri and Bhajan. She has successfully synthesized the traditional genre of Indian Classical Music with her own individuality. Her specialisation lies in subtle and intricate movements and rhythmic variations of notes with strong emotion in Vistar, fast and wide variety of effortless Tan & Sargam highlighting all the vital forms, such as Murchana, Alankar, Sapat, Halak, Gamak, Meerkhand etc.  

Besides her illustrious musical career Sangeeta holds a Masters degree in Music from Rabindra Bharati University. She is an ‘A’ Grade musician of All India Radio and Television. Her internationally released CD (titled SHRUTI) from FELMAY - Italy (vide www.felmay.it) has earned her high accolades from appropriate quarters. She has quite a few fusion CDs released from Europe with contemporary European musicians.