Pandit A Pandit ( sa, पण्डित, paṇḍit; hi, पंडित; also spelled Pundit, pronounced ; abbreviated Pt.) is a man with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge whether it is shashtra (Holy Books) or shastra (Wea ...

Falguni Mitra is a

Hindustani classical Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

vocalist who is known as a

Dhrupad Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music, Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampraday and also related to the South Ind ...

exponent of India. Mitra belongs to the

Bettiah Bettiah is a city and administrative headquarters of West Champaran district ( Tirhut Division) - (Tirhut), near Indo-Nepal border, north-west of Patna, in Bihar state of India. History In 1244 A.D., Gangeshwar Dev, a Bhumihar Brahmin of ...

gharana. Mitra combines the Dagar style of “Alaapchari” with the Betia style of Dhrupad and Dhamaar .

Early life

Mitra was initiated into music by his father, Sangeetacharya Shib Mitra, at the age of five.

Education and work

Mitra completed his Intermediate from St. Xaviers College, Kolkata; Bachelor's Degree from Vivekananda College,

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigiou ...

and then earned a master's degree in

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

from the University of Madras. Mitra had a career in management with a multinational, Cookson Group PLC. Along with his professional career, he also pursued music and took it to an extent which was to be soon recognized as his own rendition of Dhrupad, in India and across the world. Mitra was the

Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

and Prefect of

ITC Sangeet Research Academy ITC Sangeet Research Academy is a Hindustani classical music academy run by the corporate house, ITC Ltd. It is located in Kolkata, India. Noted musicians associated with the academy include Ulhas Kashalkar, Falguni Mitra, Ajoy Chakrabarty, Ust ...

, Kolkata from 1999 to 2010 Mitra has conducted lecture-demonstrations and written articles in journals in Indai and also abroad.

Music career

Mitra is a performer in the Indian music circuit. He is known for his mastery in the Dhrupad style of the Betia Banaras Gharana along with the Dagar alap style. He sings alap, nomtom and

compositions in all the four

Banis Gurbani ( pa, ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ) is a Sikh term, very commonly used by Sikhs to refer to various compositions by the Sikh Gurus and other writers of Guru Granth Sahib. In general, hymns in the central text of the Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahi ...

, namely, Gaurhar, Dagur, Nauhar and Khandar. He avoids splitting the words during upaj and thereby preserves the poetic integrity of those compositions. He is also known to sing many rare

ragas A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as a ...

in the

style.

Some memorable performances

* ‘Tansen Sangeet Sammelan‘,

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, 1956 * ‘Sangeet Rasika Sabha',

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

Kali Bari, 1957 * ‘Sadarang Sangeet Sammelan’, Kolkata, 1963 * ‘Sarba Bharatiya Sangeet Sammelan’, Kolkata, 1963, 1965 * ‘Bhawanipore Sangeet Sammilani’, Kolkata, 1963, 1966, 1969, 1972, 1978, 1981, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 * ‘Sursringar Sammelan‘,

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, 1976 * ‘Sursagar Society Sangeet Sammelan’, Kolkata, 1975, 1977, 1979. 1980, 1982, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000 * ‘Akhil Bharatiya Dhrupad Sammelan’,

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

, 1976, 1977, 1979, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2011 * ‘Tansen Sangeet Samaroah‘,

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...

, 1978 * ‘Akhil Bharatiya Dhmpad Sammelan‘,

Nathdwara Nathdwara is a town near Rajsamand city in the Rajsamand district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is located in the Aravalli hills, on the banks of the Banas River and is 48 kilometres north-east of Udaipur. Shrinathji, is a swarup of l ...

, Rajasthan, 1981 * ‘Kalakshetra Art Festival’, Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai, 1984 * ‘Tansen Sangeet Sammelan‘, Chennai, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 * ‘Ustad Chand Khan Memorial Conference’, New Delhi 1995 * ‘West Bengal State Music Academy Conference, Kolkata, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010 * ‘Dover Lane Music Conference‘, Kolkata, 2000, 2002 * ‘Sangeet Research Academy Music Circle’, Kolkata, 2000 * ‘Salt Lake Music Conference‘, Kolkata, 2000 * ‘Bangiya Sangeet Parishad Music Conference’, Kolkata, 2002 *lTC Sangeet Research Academy Conference, Raipur, Kanpur, 2004 *Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Kolkata, 2007 *lTC Sangeet Research Academy Conference, Mumbai, 2008 *Sangeet Natak Akademi Conference,

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, 2009 *Sangeet Natak Akademi Conference,

Brindavan Vrindavan (; ), also spelt Vrindaban and Brindaban, is a historical city in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located in the Braj Bhoomi region and holds religious importance in Hinduism as Krishna spent most of his childho ...

, 2010 *Prakriti Foundation Gharana Festival, Chennai, 2010 *Kala Prakash music festival, Varanasi, 2010 *Tansen Sangeet Samaroah,

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

, 2010 *Eastern Zone Cultural Center, Kolkata, 2011

Notable works

* Program in collaboration with Smt. S. Sowmya on original Hindustani and Carnatic songs followed by Rabindranath Tagore's compositions on the same, Music Academy, Chennai. 1996 *Pandit Mitra composed music for Smt. Rukmini Devi Arundale, dance ballet ''Meera of Mewar'' at Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai, 1985. *Artist at Prakriti Foundation

Honors

* Honored by the South Madras Cultural Association on 3 March 1996. Dhrupad Ratna at Kalakendra

* Dhrupad Ratna by Dhrupad Kala Kendra,

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is t ...

on 28 March 1998. *Sangeet Ratna Alankaran by Sree Kashi Sangeet Samaj on 19 February 2012. *Sangeet Bharati by Sri Satyananda Mahapith,

Jadavpur Jadavpur is a southern neighbourhood of Kolkata in the district of Kolkata of West Bengal, India. Jadavpur is one of the important junctions in South Kolkata. Jadavpur University and a number of research institutes of national and internation ...

on 26 February 2016. *Ballava Gandharva

External links

Bettiah gharana

References

External links

Official profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitra, Falguni Hindustani singers Indian classical musicians of Bengal Living people 1942 births Women musicians from West Bengal