padmanabha
14th August 2006, 10:23 PM
[tscii:413a147f89]Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Sankar once attended a violin concert at Allahabad. After the show, he invited the artiste to his gurukul school in Delhi. The artiste accepted the offer, reached Delhi and spent a few days in the gurukul. With in this short period his mind has undergone a transformation. He felt that he should learn Sitar and disclosed his ambition to the maestro. Ravi Sankar gave his own instrument and taught the boy Sitar from the very basics. The master’s judgment was absolutely right and within two years he proved his caliber. Today he is one of the leading sitarists. Meet Gaurav Mazumdar. He was in Thiruvananthapuram recently, for a performance organized by Thapovan Heritage Home at Vyloppilli Samskriti Bhavan. He was accompanied on the tabala by Debashesh Mukherjee.
In an interview the artiste talks about his traditional music family, his training in vocal, violin and then sitar, creation of new ragas, compositions, his performances abroad and his latest project with child prodigies.
‘I was born into a musical family in Allahabad. I was initiated into vocal music by my cousins- Kamala Bose and Jayasree Roy. When they got married, I could not pursue music. My father Dulal Mazumdar, Guru Pandit Nandkishore Vishwakarma and my uncle trained me in violin. Soon I started giving concerts. It was on one such occasion that I met Pandit Ravi Sankar” he said and continued:
“When I decided to learn Sitar there was a great protest. I have to learn sitar from the very basics. I had gained enough popularity as a vocalist cum violinist. It is too late for any artiste to begin the music lessons in the 20s with an ambition to become a professional. So apprehension prevailed. But somehow I wanted to pursue sitar. Hearing sitar I realized that, violin- of course a great instrument- is not meant for me. I spoke to Ravi Sankar with lot of apprehension and fear. He agreed to teach me. I had no sitar of my own. So he gave me one of his. I discontinued my college studies and started learning sitar.”
How difficult was it?
‘I knew that it is going to be difficult. Parents were concerned about my future. They firmly believed that I will end up in no where. But my passion was too strong. Within a couple of years I could imbibe its techniques and qualified to perform for AIR. I started giving small concerts and offers came naturally. My parents were relieved” explained Gaurav.
Shiv kalyani, Aishani, Madhu priya, Akansha, Shivangi and Saraswati malhar are a few ragas that Mazumdar has created. On the eve of the new millennium he performed at Vatican where he presented Akansha [hope and expectation] and dedicated it to world peace. He collaborated with and composed for the English Chamber Orchestra and performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall London. East Meets West was a joint presentation of Pandit Ravi Sankar and Lord Yehudi Menuhin the two great giants in music. Years later Gaurav performed the same with Daniel Hope - the pupil of Menuhin. Its recording was released by Warner Classics and was nominated for the Grammy Award in 2004. He had the honor of being chosen to compose music for a ballet based on Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha. He has written a lot of lyrics for khayal.
Currently Gaurav is working with the school children in England. Children who are good in instrumental music are selected. He has composed a special piece for an orchestra thus formed, and will be staged on 23rd of May, in London.
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In an interview the artiste talks about his traditional music family, his training in vocal, violin and then sitar, creation of new ragas, compositions, his performances abroad and his latest project with child prodigies.
‘I was born into a musical family in Allahabad. I was initiated into vocal music by my cousins- Kamala Bose and Jayasree Roy. When they got married, I could not pursue music. My father Dulal Mazumdar, Guru Pandit Nandkishore Vishwakarma and my uncle trained me in violin. Soon I started giving concerts. It was on one such occasion that I met Pandit Ravi Sankar” he said and continued:
“When I decided to learn Sitar there was a great protest. I have to learn sitar from the very basics. I had gained enough popularity as a vocalist cum violinist. It is too late for any artiste to begin the music lessons in the 20s with an ambition to become a professional. So apprehension prevailed. But somehow I wanted to pursue sitar. Hearing sitar I realized that, violin- of course a great instrument- is not meant for me. I spoke to Ravi Sankar with lot of apprehension and fear. He agreed to teach me. I had no sitar of my own. So he gave me one of his. I discontinued my college studies and started learning sitar.”
How difficult was it?
‘I knew that it is going to be difficult. Parents were concerned about my future. They firmly believed that I will end up in no where. But my passion was too strong. Within a couple of years I could imbibe its techniques and qualified to perform for AIR. I started giving small concerts and offers came naturally. My parents were relieved” explained Gaurav.
Shiv kalyani, Aishani, Madhu priya, Akansha, Shivangi and Saraswati malhar are a few ragas that Mazumdar has created. On the eve of the new millennium he performed at Vatican where he presented Akansha [hope and expectation] and dedicated it to world peace. He collaborated with and composed for the English Chamber Orchestra and performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall London. East Meets West was a joint presentation of Pandit Ravi Sankar and Lord Yehudi Menuhin the two great giants in music. Years later Gaurav performed the same with Daniel Hope - the pupil of Menuhin. Its recording was released by Warner Classics and was nominated for the Grammy Award in 2004. He had the honor of being chosen to compose music for a ballet based on Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha. He has written a lot of lyrics for khayal.
Currently Gaurav is working with the school children in England. Children who are good in instrumental music are selected. He has composed a special piece for an orchestra thus formed, and will be staged on 23rd of May, in London.
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