Cordially Invites you to the

ceremony of

to be conferred upon

Legendary Vocalist Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty

Pracheen Kala KendraChandigarh

The Chairman, Members of Executive Board & General Body of

t h1 3 Guru Madan Lal Koser Award 2017

Accompanists

on Saturday, February 18, 2017

at 6:30 p.m.

Venue

Tagore TheatreSector-18, Chandigarh

The award ceremony will be followed by

Ustad Akram Khan (Tabla)Paromita Mukherjee (Harmonium)

Pandit ji's Vocal Recital

email: pracheenkalakendra@gmail.com

website: www.pracheenkalakendra.org

Please be seated by 6:15 p.m.

Seats available on first come first served basis.

Children below five are not allowed.

Keep your mobile phone on silent mode during the programme

(Scion and doyen of the Patiala-Kasur Gharana)

R.S.V.P.

Ph.: 2600451, 2274829, 2662785, 2264527

Shri V.P. Singh Badnore(Hon'ble Governor of Punjab& Administrator U.T. Chandigarh)

has very Kindly consented to be the Chief Guest

and confer the award upon the maestro

Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty is poised nearly as a cult figure among all the legendary Indian Classical Vocalists of today. Although considered a scion and doyen of the Patiala-Kasur Gharana (style), primarily representing Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Sahib's gayaki, he can equally portray even the most subtle features of other major classical gharanas of India like Indore, Delhi, Jaipur, Gwalior, Agra, Kirana, Rampur and even Carnatic music of South India. This is perhaps because of his wide exposure to various genres and their maestros and musicologists besides his own gurus. His father, late Shri Ajit Kumar Chakraborty, Shri Pannalal Samanta and Shri Kanaidas Baigari were the ones, with whom his initial orientation

happened, before he was warmly accepted by the ultimate and the greatest Guru of all times, Padmabhushan Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh. His training was then continued under Ustad Munawar Ali Khan (son of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan).

Besides that, he had learnt from several other maestros like Ustad Latafat Hussain Khan, Pt. Nibruttibua Sarnaik, Vidushi Hirabai Barodekar and in Carnatic styles from Professor, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, that kept enriching his musical expression and repertoire. Despite having such pure classical “taleem” in the Dhrupad-Khyal genre, he is amazingly adroit and a trend setter, in rendering all the lighter forms like Thumri, Tappa, Geet, Bhajan,

Keertan, Folk, Film/Non-Film and modern songs, in several different languages, like Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, Telegu, Persian and even in English, which all together, has given him the single distinguished recognition of being an absolutely one-of-a-kind musical personality, in the music scene of India today.

He graduated top of his class in music, both in B.A and M.A from the prestigious Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata and joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1977. Being the academy's very first outstanding scholar, he became their only gold medalist fellow, a member of their Experts' Committee and a senior Guru where he still serves as a prime mover in all its promotional courses to date.

Recipient of as many as 4 prestigious national awards – by the President of India - Padma Shri (2011), Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (Delhi, 1999-2000), The Kumar Gandharva Samman (National Award, 1993) and the Best Male Playback Singer (Bengali Film “Chhandaneer”1990) - he has also received felicitations from both the former and present Chief Ministers of his own State, West Bengal.

In April and May of 2012 the Maha Sangeet Samman and the Bangavibhusan Samman, two of the State's highest awards, were also conferred upon him.

He is the first Indian classical vocalist to be invited by Pakistan and China and by BBC for their Golden Jubilee Celebration of India's Independence.

Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty has performed in innumerable concerts and is perhaps the busiest classical vocalist of his generation today. He regularly participates in all the major prestigious annual music conferences & festivals – all over India and abroad. He has performed in some of the most prestigious venues around the world like the Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, New Orleans Jazz Preservation Hall – in the US, including being the recipient of Golden Key to the city of New Orleans; The Royal Albert hall and Queen Elizabeth hall in the UK, Theatre de la Ville in France; Sammukhananda, Nehru Center, NCPA in Mumbai, Shirifort auditorium in New Delhi-India, to name a very few.

Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty has more than 100 albums to his credit, published from India, US, UK, Holland and Germany that feature pure classical and light classical numbers including thumris, dadras, bhajans and other types of devotional songs. He also has numerous recordings of Syamasangeet, Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrulgeeti and Raagpradhan that are widely popular.

Panditji also created , "SHRUTINANDAN" , 'A musical kingdom ' a foremost and renowned institution in Kolkata imparting training in Music to pupils from all walks of path.

“Guru M.L. Koser Award” is a small token of appreciation to the contribution and talent of an Artist of Repute by an Artist par excellence, that is why this award is so special and unique. This Award is dedicated in the name of Late Guru M.L. Koser, Founder, Pracheen Kala Kendra who was an epitome of selfless service towards the promotion of Indian Classical Art and Culture. He continues to be the image of personified creativity and his deeds speak more than any blizzard of words.

Guru M.L. Koser came to the City Beautiful with a vision and a dream for which he toiled day and night with full commitment, conviction and perseverance. He dared to heed to the call of his heart and executed it meticulously and successfully which made him a Legend as he is remembered by artists all over the world today for his extraordinary achievement in the field of art and culture. He started his journey alone in 1956, but later he was joined by his equally talented wife G u r u S h o b h a K o s e r . To g e t h e r t h e y w o r k e d tirelessly to realize their dreams. Today the name of “Guru M.L. Koser” has become synonymous with Art and Culture in the country.

Highly talented Guru M.L. Koser started on this path and left behind a trail of footsteps for next generations to follow to get inspired. He still continues to be a guiding light which will inspire the youngsters for generations to come to have a vision, respect it and realize it with untiring hard work, discipline and proactive attitude as he did.

According to Guru M.L. Koser, dance should not be divided into boundaries of different classical styles. Dance for him was an expression of heart with a conscious as well as serene purpose. That is why he learnt almost all classical styles of dances like Manipuri, Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Kathakali and Modern Dance and incorporated all these styles and evolved a new style which could express almost every thought and portray any story successfully on the stage. He dreamt of promoting Arts and Culture in a unique manner. His tireless efforts and brilliance is unparalleled even today and shall remain so for times immemorial. He did pioneering work for the promotion of Art and Culture in Punjab since 1950's when Punjab was more known for agriculture than classical art, and he lighted a lamp of classical music & dance in Punjab at that time which is commendable indeed.

Even today he belongs to such a rare species of artists who not only worked for their own promotion but also for the development and upliftment of fellow artists as well. M.L. Koser was of the view that they should do something big and different which will pass on their rich cultural heritage to generations to come and something which will be aesthetically beautiful and existentially meaningful and with this objective, he in 1956 founded an organization 'PRACHEEN KALA KENDRA' which at present is the foremost organization dedicated to art and culture and is no less than an institution of national importance. The Kendra is dedicatedly working towards achieving its goal of status of a unique kind of University dedicated to Art and Culture in the Country.

Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty Guru Madan Lal KoserAn Inimitable Visionary, able Organiser and Dance Guru(20/06/1930 – 27/03/2008)

Vocalist Par Excellence

Organised by:

PRACHEEN KALA KENDRA,Sector-35/B, Chandigarh.Ph. 0172-2600451, 2662785, 2661171I

nvita

tion

BOOK POST(Card only)

On

Saturday, February 18, 2017

at 6:30 p.m.

13th

Guru Madan Lal Koser

Award Ceremony

Venue

Tagore Theatre

Sector 18, Chandigarh

Estd. 1956

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