Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty-pioneer of raga music for all
The name of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty is well-known to lovers of classical Indian music in the UK and around the world. His musical career spans five decades.
Now in his early seventies, there is not a prestigious stage whether in his native Kolkata, or the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New York or the Jazz Preservation Hall in New Orleans, that Ajoyji has not graced. His deep, resonant voice and seamless delivery interprets classical raga, semi-classical, devotional and film music with equal felicity. The internet offers countless clips of all types of Ajoyji’s singing, but of course it does not compare with the opportunity to hear the master live in a concert. That very chance is coming to UK shores in July 2025. (Tour dates given at the end).
But first a brief outline of this remarkable artist’s career. Ajoyji was born in 1952 and showed signs of his affinity to music even as a toddler. His father Ajit Chakrabarty was his first teacher and subsequently he trained with Kaniadas Bairagi, Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh and Munawar Ali Khan (son of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan). In the range of teachers, we can already see the diversity of influences: Pandit Gnan Prakash Ghosh’s father was instrumental in the development of the harmonium and Jnan Prakashji along with vocals and composition mastered the tabla. From Munawar Ali Khan Sahib Ajoyji imbibed the art of both Khayal and thumri singing.
Ajoyji received first class honours in both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Rabindra Bharati University in Calcutta. In 1978 he was accepted as a scholar at Sangeet Research Academy, an institution set up by the Imperial Tobacco Company to preserve and foster the growth of classical Indian music. In 1981 Ajoyji recorded his Gurus nine compositions Naan Ranger Gaan for HMV. In 1994, Panditji was invited to sing in Pakistan for ten days, he sang nightly from 9pm to 7am! These recordings are available on HMV.
Teaching came naturally to Panditji and from 1985 to 1987, he was featured in a TV programme imparting teaching to children including his five old daughter Kaushiki (now a seasoned artist who is well-known to UK audiences). The show was a forerunner to his establishment of Shrutinandan (1992) an institution for teaching all forms of Indian music. Ajoyji developed his teaching methodology over two decades with his own daughter Kaushiki as the model for imparting vocal training. He is the first musician to have developed a scientific approach to teaching Indian vocal music.
Incidentally, the word ‘shruti’ in Sanskrit refers to “that which is heard” and nandan refers to beauty and children.
Shrutinandan got a building base in the year 1997 and have also been teaching at IIT Kharagpur on how to develop science and technology through Raga music, His alumni are his daughter Kaushiki Chakrabarty, Brajeshwar Mukherjee, Purbayan Chatterjee (Sitar) and Anol Chatterjee amongst others.
Several musicians from the UK have gone to the institution to further their knowledge and practice of raga music. Foremost vocalist Sanchita Pal, Ranjana Ghatak, Jayita Ghosh, sitarist and vocalist Debipriya Sircar, and Kaviraj Singh santoor and vocal specialist.
Ajoyji is the recipient of several awards and accolades including the President of India - Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in India in 2020, Padma Shri (2011), Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (Delhi, 1999-2000), The Kumar Gandharva Samman (National Award) and the Best Male Playback Singer (Bengali Film “Chhandaneer”). He has more than 100 albums to his credit, published from India, US, UK, Holland and Germany.
He recently released a book published by Niyogi Books, titled Pandit 'Ajoy Chakrabarty: Seeker of the music within',an in depth account of his life and work which will be available at his concerts.
Panditji, the UK audiences are looking forward to your concerts. How can they best prepare to receive your music?
Thank you, I am grateful and really looking forward to meeting some old friends and music lovers in the UK. I am thankful to Geetanjali Fine Arts for organising a really special tour.
I think the best way to receive this music is through understanding it, and that is a part of my intention and my desire for raga music. I prefer to use the term ‘raga music’, not ‘classical music’, as ragas are living and breathing. At this time in history, raga music is very important in bringing peace of mind; and for musicians it can bring the opportunity to improvise and develop both melody and rhythm.
There is an excellent music-loving audience in the UK and there has been a very deep connection between India and England for the last few hundred years. Western instruments, particularly the keyboard, piano and violin, have been welcomed into Indian music. Now, without those instruments, Indian musical recordings are also almost impossible to make. As a student of music and a musician, I know that the contributions of the piano and violin have been very important to support a student’s pitching and knowledge of harmony and chords, which are very essential in other forms of Indian music other than raga music. There is a great love of culture and the arts in the UK, so I think this year, particularly at the age of 72, I have a definite intention to make people aware about the contribution of Indian music and how it can also support and develop Western listeners' understanding of melody and harmony through the lens of the ragas.
In terms of the rhythmic part, Ustad Zakir Hussain showed us the versatility and incredible range of Indian music through playing with so many great artists from around the world. Raga music has a combination of rhythm, raga and literature. Sanskrit and other languages like Hindi and Brij Bhasha are used, where the combination of vowel and consonant is also very, very importantly presented and composed, in order to create the picture of the raga and the lyrics.
Rhythmically we work with the concept of the cycle, which is very connected to Indian spirituality and its music. We have many time cycles, like 5 beat cycles or 16 beat cycles. Out of 24 hours, we just take a chunk of time like 15 minutes or an hour to paint with our internal air. To paint our music on air through our inner vision is a unique thing. For some unknown reason, this music hasn’t been described in a manner that people can perceive and understand. So this is the time that I think I will be able to make people more aware about this contribution of our country.
How do you decide on the raga that you are going to sing at a particular concert? Is it something you decide beforehand or is it more spontaneous?
Most of the time it is decided after seeing the listeners. Seeing their faces helps me to decide what is the best raga to perform for the concert. Ragas are like friends or family members, so sometimes if I feel like I want to talk with an old friend, or that friend has come to my attention, then the raga can be decided in advance.
In a concert how is the time allocated to Khayal, Thumri and Bhajan?
It is based on my choice and each individual concert. Mostly the khayal part needs a little more time because it is nothing but imagination. So if your imagination is limited to a short time, then it’s 15 minutes. Often there is a time limit in an auditorium, but when there is a music loving audience who love raga music then a khayal can be sung for much longer.
Most of the time listeners attend the concert because of the name and popularity of the artist; however I feel the artist has his own responsibility to make new listeners. I am not there only to satisfy the listeners who are already familiar with the music. I want people to be open to new listeners coming to Indian music. So keeping that in mind, khayal might be 30 mins, then thumri for 20 minutes. Or maybe I might sing more thumri, bhajan, geet and ghazal based on the audience.
When did you last tour the UK and what are you particularly looking forward to this time?
I did a short tour in 2019 and this time Geetanjali Fine Arts has organised the tour. I have been very impressed with Jayita Ghosh’s attention to detail in organising this tour. Most of the concerts have sold really well which can be a real challenge here in the UK. An audience of 800 here feels like the equivalent of 10,000 in India. This is a great achievement as a raga music concert is more of a transmission than a stand alone performance. For people to be open to that and for the organisers to create the right atmosphere requires a lot of focus, love and dedication to the arts.
I’m looking forward to sharing this music with new listeners in addition to spending time with my family after a long break.
You said in an interview that you encourage your students to find their own voice. Do you feel that they have done that?
Yes, I feel it’s really important. Like with you Ranjana, you have some definite ideas through which you can express yourself better. It’s important for me to share the music and then once you have the knowledge, you can organise yourself and prepare to present your own thoughts and ideas. It is vital that teachers and Gurus make an impact but allow the student to keep their personality. Sadly a lot of the time in India, the student is encouraged to copy the teacher. I never encouraged any student to sing like me because my students are all individuals. Whatever they sing, they try to follow my ideas but their presentation is completely different. I am grateful to have students like Brajeshwar Mukherjee, Anol Chatterjee, Deborshee Bhattacharya, Meher Parlikar, Ranjana Ghatak, Sanchita, Kaviraj who all present their ideas in their unique way.
Have audiences for raga music grown in India and outside India?
Yes, most definitely. Nowadays, wherever I go, I get 75 to 80 percent of young listeners – not only in our country, but all over the world; because everybody is interested in music because music is not a subject, it is a way of life. Everybody understands that you have the option to create something of your own through this music. There is no other subject through which you can learn improvisation, through which you can learn how to project yourself, through which you can learn your sense of perfection, sense of respect, sense of belief, sense of surrender. All these things are very, very difficult to find nowadays. But in music, you always find that. And if you are honest, you know up to what extent you can project yourself or where you fail. So that sense of judgment is also developed in music.
I was supposed to tour the USA this month, but due to visa delays I was unable to go. All the concerts were sold out. In San Francisco, 1200 people, in Los Angeles 800 people, in Boston 700, New Jersey 800. It is such a huge feat for Indian music to reach these numbers of audiences in the western world.
And what is your hope for raga music in the future?
Hope? It is very, very positive. My hope is that Indian music performers remember the richness of raga music, know how we can use the intermediate frequencies and how to use the gaps, silence and sound. Knowing where to rest and when to develop is vital in a performance.
Historically we haven’t always been able to explain the uniqueness of raga music, especially vocal music. It is no longer enough to perform as a famous artist, increase our name and return home. This is a time when we should inform people about the depth of raga music.
Normally in a presentation of Western music, the whole auditorium is darkened and the artist performs. But in our performances, we talk in between. We explain and we connect the listeners to what we are performing at the same time. We see the audience as a partner in the whole journey. Language is unfortunately a barrier. I was born into a Bengali family where that was the main language. So most musicians of my age are not very accustomed to speaking English fluently.
So my real hope is for listeners around the world to understand the nuances of what happens in a performance, what is distinctive about raga music. Why am I singing the way I am? Often musicians don’t even know, as these things aren’t explained. So that communication is vital, of what is different in the projection and delivery of this music that makes it difficult for musicians of other cultures to produce. The Indianism of this music, how this music can be supportive and a part of someone’s musical journey and imagination, these are things I often think about.
Tour Dates
6th July, Tom Fleming Centre, Edinburgh
10th July, Waterside Arts, Manchester
13th July, Union Chapel, London
19th July, Peepul Enterprise, Leicester - Sold Out
20th July, Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
23rd July, Masterclass in London
25th July, The Rep Theatre, Birmingham
26th July, Squire Performing Arts Centre, Nottingham
