Rezwana Choudhury Bannya is a Bangladeshi singer and academic. She is an exponent of
Rabindra Sangeet
''Rabindra Sangeet'' ( bn, রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in L ...
, the songs written and composed by
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
. She is regarded as a legendary Tagore singer by Tagore music aficionados. She has won numerous awards including Bangladesh's highest civilian award the
Independence Day Award (2016).
Early life
Rezwana was born in Rangpur, Bangladesh to her parents Mazharuddin Khan and Ismat Ara Khan. Her early singing lessons began with her uncle
Abdul Ali that continued later under the tutelage of
Sanjida Khatun and Atiqul Islam at
Chhayanaut
The Chhayanaut Sangeet Vidyatan ( bn, ছায়ানট) is an institution devoted to Bengali culture, founded in Bangladesh in 1961. As in the case of many similar organizations, it was established during Pakistani rule in Bangladesh to prom ...
and
Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts (BAFA) in
Dhaka. As she continued taking lessons in music and singing, she also joined the Economics Program at the university of Dhaka after completion of her schooling. However, soon her inner self came to the realization that music was her destiny. She received a scholarship from the
Indian Council for Cultural Relations
The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people. It was founded on 9 Apri ...
(ICCR) to study in
Sangit Bhavana
Sangit Bhavana (Institute of Dance, Drama and Music), of Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, started functioning as a part of Kala Bhavana in 1919 and as a separate institution in 1933. It was established by the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tag ...
at
Santiniketan, the university that was founded by Tagore himself. She took lessons from artistes including
Kanika Bandyopadhyay,
Nilima Sen
Nilima Sen (28 April 1928 – 28 June 1996) was a famous Rabindrasangeet singer.
Early life
Nilima was born as Nilima Gupta in Kolkata, India on 28 April 1928. Her parents moved to Shantiniketan when she was six. She had her education there and ...
,
Sailajaranjan Majumdar
Sailajaranjan Majumdar (19 July 1900–24 May 1992) was a distinguished exponent and teacher of Rabindra Sangeet.
Early life
The son of Ramanikishore and Saralasundari Majumdar, Sailajaranjan was born at Baham, Netrokona, now in Bangladesh, on ...
,
Santidev Ghosh
Santidev Ghose (also Santidev Ghosh, Shantidev Ghosh and Santideb Ghosh) (Santiniketan, 7 May 1910 – 1 December 1999) was an Indian author, singer, actor, dancer and maestro of Rabindra Sangeet.
Sagarmoy Ghosh, the renowned editor of Bengal ...
,
Gora Sarbadhikary,
Manju Bandyopadhyay and
Asesh Bandyopadhyay. Years after receiving her Master's degree fro
isva-Bharati, she trained under Kanika Banerjie (Mohor Di) in private sessions for an extended period of time, as she recalled in the Musiana episode, "Meeting Mohar Di", hosted by Srikanto Acharya.
In 2021 she completed her research on Rabindra Sangeet at the University of Dhaka, for which she received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Career
Bannya is currently Professor and founding chair of the Department of Dance at the University of Dhaka; previously, she had been an Associate Professor in the Department of Music at the same university.
[The University of Dhaka, Department of Music]
In 1992 she founded ''Shurer Dhara'', a prestigious music school in Dhaka. with a focus on Ranbindra Sangeet. Bannya is currently Honorary Dean, Faculty of Performing Arts & Chairperson of Music Department of
Tagore University of Creative Arts
Tagore University of Creative Arts (TUCA; bn, রবীন্দ্র সৃজনকলা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়) is a private university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The vice-chancellor of the university is Syed Mohamma ...
. In 2010, in order to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, she brought out a complete audio version of 2,233 songs in Tagore's ''Gitobitan'', which was titled ''Sruti Gitobitan..
Awards
* ''Ananda Sangeet Puroshkar'' for being the best female Rabindra Sangeet artist (2002)
* ''Gaane Gaane Gunijon Shongbardhona'' (2011)
* ''Sangeet Samman Puroshkar'' from the Ministry of Culture, India in 2013
*
Independence Day Award (2016)
*
Banga Bhushan
Banga Bhushan ( bn, বঙ্গভূষণ) is a title instituted by the West Bengal Government to honour the services of personalities in various fields.
List of awardees 2022
2014
2013
2012
{{Cite web , url=http://www.bengalinformation ...
(2017)
* Firoza Begum Memorial Gold Medal (2017)
*Sangeet Maha Samman (2017) by the Government of West Bengal
*Doctorate of Arts ''honoris causa'' from
Asian University for Women (2019)
*Lifetime Achievement Award conferred by Oikko.com.bd Channel I (2022)
Albums
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury Bannya, Rezwana
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century Bangladeshi women singers
21st-century Bangladeshi singers
20th-century Bangladeshi women singers
20th-century Bangladeshi singers
Rabindra Sangeet exponents
University of Dhaka faculty
Visva-Bharati University alumni
Recipients of the Independence Day Award
20th-century women composers