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Origin & History
ITC’s association with music began with the ITC Sangeet Sammelan conducted in Delhi in 1971. This Sammelan also instituted a substantial cash award to be given to one of the oldest living musicians of stature. The Sammelan took Delhi by storm and went on to become an annual rage. Consistently featuring the reigning monarchs of the music world.
Meet the Gurus
Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty
Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1978 as its first Scholar. He later became one of the youngest Gurus of the Academy.
He stands today, internationally acclaimed, as an extraordinary artiste who holds sway over various forms of Hindustani Classical Music, equally at home with other genres of Indian vocal music.
Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty was initiated into music by his father Shri Ajit Chakrabarty. He was later trained by the likes of Kanaidas Bairagi, Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh and Ustad Munawar Ali Khan. His prodigious list of awards includes the Padma Bhushan for 2020, the Kumar Gandharva Award in 1993 and the Sangeet Natak Academy award for 1999-2000, among a host of others.
He is the first classical vocalist of India to have received the President’s Award for the best male playback singer in 1990. A recipient of the Tansen Samman for 2015, Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty has been conferred with numerous Honorary D.Litt degrees by several universities in the country.
Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar
Initiated into music by his father, Shri N.D.Kashalkar, Ulhas ji later trained under Pandit Ram Marathe and Pandit Gajananbua Joshi. He therefore owes his gayakee to three prominent gharanas — Gwalior, Agra and Jaipur.
With a superb voice and the ability to blend the three gayakees with authenticity and aesthetic excellence, he soon emerged as one of the most formidable vocalists of the country. While his music remains well within the tradition, the listener revels in a seemingly new gayakee which is his contribution to Hindustani Classical Music.
Widely regarded as the musicians’ musician, Pt Ulhas Kashalkar is a recipient of several awards such as the Padma Shri 2010 and Sangeet Natak Academy Award 2009. He has been conferred with the title of Raag Rishi. He has been a Guru of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy for over three decades producing numerous students of extraordinary caliber.
Pandit Partha Chatterjee
Partha ji’s training started in vocal music under his mother, Smt. Rama Chatterjee, a regular artiste on All India Radio and Doordarshan. His father, Late Sri Prabir Kumar Chatterjee, gave him his initial lessons in sitar and subsequently took him to learn from the sitar maestro, the Late Pandit Nikhil Banerjee. After the demise of his Guru in 1986, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, offered to accept him as his disciple. He is also greatly indebted to Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta for the guidance he received from him on several occasions.
He has performed in all of the major cities of India and across the globe including the prestigious “Festival of India” held in Basel, Switzerland, in 1987 and the Broadway Theatre, New York. He has worked with the Indian Council For Cultural Relations, Government of India, in projecting the image of Indian Music as a musical ambassador.
He is a visiting faculty at the Ali Akbar College of Music as well as many other esteemed institutions across the globe. He is a Guru of ITC Sangeet Research Academy since 2011.
He has been awarded the Basundhara Award in 2012 by Mysore Gayana Sabha, Pandit Puttaraj Gawai National Award in 2013, Jadubhatta Award, Alauddin Khan Puraskar in Instrumental Music by Government of West Bengal in 2023.
Vidushi Subhra Guha
Subhra Guha is regarded as one of the finest female exponents of the Agra gharana. She received her earliest training from Late Shri Satish Bhowmick and continued to take lessons from one of the veterans of the Agra gharana, the Late Pandit Sunil Bose. Later in 1982, she joined ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata where Bose was a Guru. She also received training and guidance from stalwarts such as the Late Pandit K G Ginde and the Late Pandit D T Joshi, from whom she learnt the art of Thumri rendition. Mention must also be made of Pandit Vijay Kichlu’s support and invaluable guidance.
She is a guru of ITC SRA. Her voice is strikingly tuneful and is remarkably suited for Khayal singing.
Her collection of rare Thumris, Dadras, Kajris, Chaitis etc. in pure Banaras tradition is also matchless. Equally impressive is her exhaustive collection of rare ragas and compositions.
She is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi award for 2022 for her contribution to Hindustani classical music.
Pandit Uday Bhawalkar
Pandit Uday Bhawalkar, a Guru of the Academy, is a standard bearer for Dhrupad and a strong force in its growing recognition and popularity today. His journey began at the Dhrupad Kendra in Bhopal in 1981 under the tutelage of his Gurus, Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar and the Rudra Veena maestro Ustad Zia Moiuddin Dagar. He lived and studied with them in Bhopal and Mumbai for 12 years.
He gave his first performance in 1985 and has performed ever since in many major music festivals in India and abroad.
He has been awarded the Kumar Gandharva Samman in 2001 by the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. He is also a recipient of the Raza Foundation award in 2006 from the famous painter Shri S H Raza. He was a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi award for 2021.
Shri Omkar Dadarkar
Shri Omkar Dadarkar is a brilliant Vocalist in the realm of Hindustani Classical Music and is presently a Guru of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy. He started training under his aunt Vidushi Manik Verma and is also blessed with long tutelage under Pt. Yashwantbua Joshi.
He became a Scholar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy under Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar in 1999 and also learnt from Vidushi Girija Devi in the Academy.
Omkar is the recipient of many prestigious Awards including the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar from Sangeet Natak Akademi, Government of India 2009 the Sangeet Shiromani Award 2007.
Shri Brajeswar Mukherjee
One of the youngest Gurus of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Brajeswar brings together a rare combination of musical acumen and a melodious voice.
He was a recipient of the Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Kiran Puraskar for 2021 and the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar from the Sangeet Natak Akademi for 2015. He is an empaneled artist of Indian Council For Cultural Relations, All India Radio and Doordarshan.
Training under Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, Brajeswar has had the privilege of singing duets with Dr M Balamurali Krishna.
He has travelled across the world performing and winning accolades at prestigious concerts.
Shri Abir Hossain
Abir Hossain, one of the younger Gurus of ITC SRA, started his musical journey at the age of five under the guidance of his father, Golam Emam and mother, Minakshi Emam. At the age of twelve he came under the tutelage of Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta of the Senia-Shajahanpur Gharana, Guru of the Academy. He joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 2002. Subsequently he also came under the guidance of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty.
He has performed in festivals and conferences at several venues including the ITC Sangeet Sammelan (Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata), the Dover Lane Music Conference, Sangeet Natak Akademi and many more. Abir is a regular artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan. He is an empaneled artiste of Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
Abir is carrying forward an innovative style maintaining the authenticity of the Ragas with their moods, emotions and ‘rasas’. He was awarded the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar in the field of Hindustani Instrumental Music (Sarod) by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Government of India in the year 2016.
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