Amitava Chatterjee

How do time, sound, and tradition merge in performance? Amit Chatterjee’s two powerful evening ragas will give listeners a new perspective on an age-old musical tradition.

Chatterjee will perform extended versions of two ragas (traditional Indian classical melodic pieces) on sitar in different forms: Dhrupad alap, the older and more austere style, played without tabla, and Khyal, a more common, celebratory approach where the artist creates more freely, accompanied by percussion.

These are ragas of the evening, and convey the moods of the time. To close the concert, he will play a folk song (dhun), expressing the beauty and heart of life in Indian villages.

Chatterjee will be accompanied by Vivek Pathak on tabla.

This concert is presented with Harrice Miller Entertainment. Sunny Thakkar is a community partner.

About the Performer

Amit Chatterjee is an internationally acclaimed sitarist, guitarist, composer, and vocalist, known for his work in two distinct fields of music: Hindusthani classical music on sitar and jazz fusion on guitar.

As a sitarist Chatterjee has performed in India, Europe, and many parts of the United States. He plays in the gayaki ang (vocal style) of the tradition, where the sitar is used to emulate the beauty and the intricacies of singing.

Chatterjee is also known for his preference for expressing the sentiments (rasas) of the ancient ragas (melodies). This particular type of gayaki ang sitar presents the music in the tradition of the great classical singers of India.

Besides the commonly known ragas played by sitarists, Amit Chatterjee also plays ragas that are part of the regular repertoire of great singers. He has recorded several albums of Hindustani classical music and played sitar for several films in the West, including the PBS documentary The Great Eastern Railroad, Mother Theresa on HBO, and others.

Vivek Pathak (tabla) has studied with Ojas Joshi, Suphala, and finally with the master himself, Zakir Hussain. Drawn to improvising complex rhythms within a framework, his passion is Indian classical music, yet he also plays with numerous other improvisational and non-improvisational musicians. He enjoys the synergies born from artists of different backgrounds collaborating to understand each other’s approach to sound and music. Born in Canada, Vivek traveled internationally throughout his childhood and now resides in New York City.