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Adorned
with the Padma Bhushan, one of the highest
Civilian Govt. Awards, for his contributions
in the field of music, from the President
of India, Pandit Devabrata Chaudhuri, a
legendary figure in the domain of Indian
Classical Music, popularly known as "DEBU",
is one of India's most respected, leading
and outstanding musicians of today.
Panditji
received his early training from the late Shri.
Panchu Gopal Datta for some time and later for 38
years from the veritable great master and the most
traditional exponent of Sitar, SANGEET ACHARYA USTAD
MUSHTAQ ALI KHAN of the "SENIA GHARANA",
the traditional school of Indian Classical Music
named after the great MIAN TANSEN, the father of
Indian Music. Debuji is the foremost exponent and
torch bearer of this Gharana.
Debuji
(respectfully called) is a man of many parts.
Akin to the seven swaras (notes) that are
the heart and soul of any musical creation
and composition, howsoever old or new, his
personality is seven-fold. India’s foremost
Sitar maestro, respected Guru and teacher,
composer of numerous mellifluous symphonies,
creator of eight new Ragas, author of three
books and several monographs, eminent musicologist
and academic, and winner of numerous awards
and honours, both national and global.
Debuji's
is not a mere, or even random, affair with the
sitar, it has been a deep romance with this
beautiful instrument to which he was introduced when
he was all of 4 years old. He made his public debut
at the age of 12 and his first broadcast for All
India Radio was in the year 1948. Ever since, the
association with the sitar, and through it the
music, has been increasingly rewarding to himself
and to those who have been able to savour it.
It
needs no overt mention that Panditji’s music
has its own charm which is quite unique
in character and stylized, as it can easily
be identified by any discerning lover of
Indian Classical instrumental music. The
year 2002 is witness to Panditji's 54th
year of broadcasting on the National network
of the All India Radio, and the 40th year
of teaching at the University of Delhi,
Faculty of Music and Fine Arts. His first
National Programme was featured in the year
1963 on All India Radio and became the TOP
CLASS (graded by the National Network, AIR)
artiste in the 1971. This year has brought
many more honours and laurels to Panditji,
including a special honours and felicitations
by the Cultural Centres of Delhi, Mumbai
and Kolkatta for his life time achievement
in the field.
Debuji’s
retirement from the Faculty of Music and
Fine Arts, where most of the teachers are
his students, has not seen any corresponding
diminishing for his love of Music or for
the propagation of the same to discerning
followers. Panditji has recently started
a unique project to document rare instrumental
compositions, which are being forgotten
or overlooked by the present generation;
with the support of traditional compositions
of Dhrupad and Khayal on the same Raga.
This project is so dear to his heart that
his only ambition is to complete this project
during his life time, so that the future
generation will have a better information
and knowledge to perform instrumental compositions
with confidence. This is a dream project
of Panditji and when completed will be a
landmark in the history of instrumental
music.
Panditji's
creativity in music and his academic acumen are
widely accepted, recognized and known all over the
World. As the creator of 8 new Ragas, authoring
three book on Indian Music, presenting several
papers in various seminars all over India and
abroad, successfully guiding 33 Ph.D. scholars are
but a small though substantial quantification of his
eminence. Others include having a special project of
recording 24 CDs for 24 hours of the day in the USA,
delivering 87 lectures in 67 days in Sweden in 1984
for Govt of India and performing all over the World
for more than 70 occasions.
His
zeal for the propagation of music to students
has led far and wide. He has Lectured at
more than 130 Universities on Indian classical
music and culture around the world: Afghanistan,
Australia, Bangkok, Belgium , Bosnia, Brazil,
Burma, Canada, Cuba, China, Dubai, France,
Fiji, Guyana, Germany, Greece, Hawaii, Hong
Kong, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea,
Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Mauritius, Morocco,
Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Trinidad & Tobago, U.K., U.S.S.R., U.S.A,
Venezuela, Yugoslavia etc.
Among
his manifold accomplishments, he provided in-flight
music for Indian Airlines and composed Music for
Indian TV short film and also for German TV. In the
year 1983 he was involved as an advisor to the
project for promoting Indian music in the schools of
Leicestershire, England, under the sponsorship of
the Government of India and Leicestershire County
Council, a project which, apart from being the first
of its kind, was also replicated in Birmingham at a
later stage.
He
has represented India at various International
Seminars, Festivals and has served as Chairman of
many symposiums. He has to his credit close to 45
papers that he has presented at various seminars.
He was India’s official representation in many
International Festivals including Montreaux-Vevey
Festival, Morocco International Festival, UNESCO
Festival at Perth, Trinidad Festival and Cuba etc.
He
also holds the rare privilege of delivering 87
lectures and performing 27 concerts in 67 days at
the Govt of India’s "Festival of India in
Sweden" in the year 1984. Many of his students
are now propagating his Guru’s style all over the
World and many foreign students are coming to learn
under his guidance under the Cultural exchange
programme. All these achievements make his position
in the field of music a special one which, in
addition to being in itself an achievement, is also,
as a matter of record, very hard to match.
Panditji
has recorded many albums and cassettes with
EMI, HMV, ABK (USA), for M.G.V. (24CD's
for 24 hour Ragas), TV series, Rhythm House,
Archive Music USA. "T"-Series,
Krishna Audios, Washington DC and other
companies all over the world.
As
the founder Chairperson of the Delhi University
Culture council and as the former Dean and Head of the
Faculty of Music and Fine Arts, Dr. Debu Chaudhuri’s
contribution to the field of education places him in
an exalted pedestal of respect in the domain of
music all over the world. He enjoys wide popularity
both a Maestro of Sitar and as a learned teacher of
music; a unique combination and achievement indeed.
Dr.
Chaudhuri is the creator of eight new ragas:
Bisweswari, Palas-Sarang, Anuranjani, Ashiqui
Lalit, Swanandeswari, Kalyani Bilawal, Shivamanjari
and Prabhati Manjari (named after his wife
Manju, who passed away recently). He is
the author of three books "Sitar and
It's Techniques", "Music of India"
and "On Indian Music"; has read
several papers on music in various Seminars
in Indian Universities and Abroad; is the
Visiting Professor at MUM, Fairfield, IOWA,
USA. His books add another dimension to
his creativity. Sitar enthusiasts in India
and Europe have found his writings extremely
useful in understanding the art of playing
the sitar.
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