Sougata Roy Chowdhury is considered to be among the most talented sarod players of his generation. Born in a Bengali artistic family, Sougata grew up in Santiniketan. His father, Prof. Sarbari Roy Chowdhury, was an eminent sculptor and also a great music connoisseur, with one of the most precious collections of Indian classical music in India today. Sougata’s mother, Smt. Ajanta Roy Chowdhury, is an Indian classical vocalist of the Agra Gharana.

Sougata started to learn sarod at the age of 10 with Ustad Dhyanesh Khan, son of Sarod Legend Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Sougata’s Guru taught him the technique of sarod, discipline in traditional Indian music, and compositions in various Ragas for many years until his guru’s untimely passing. Sougata then continued his study with Dhyanesh Khan’s elder brother, Ustad Aashish Khan, for some time until finally pursuing tutelage under his Guruji, Pandit Santosh Banerjee, a well-respected and highly knowledgeable sitar and surbahar player based in Kolkata, who is one of the main disciples of Ustad Mohammed Dabir Khan, the last descendant of the Miyan Tansen family. Pandit Santosh Banerjee has given him rigorous training in various Ragas and in the refined aesthetics of Indian classical music, all of which has allowed Sougata to develop into the mature musician he is today. Sougata also has received mentorship from the knowledgeable senior disciple of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Rajiv Taranath. Sougata has received mentorship from the Sarod legend Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. He is heavily influenced by him as he considers himself a devotee of him and admires him as a ‘God of knowledge’. Sougata continues to research the late Ustad’s creations and artistry and respects his spiritual approach and path to the musical journey.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
• Obtained his Masters degree in Ancient Indian History, Culture & Archaeology from Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan (1998).
• Received a prestigious degree in Indian Classical music from Prachin Kaka Kendra of Chandigarh (1996-1997).
• Obtained a scholarship from the Indian Government of Culture, as well as an award by The Pandit Ravi Kichlu Foundation Golden Talent Contest in 2000.
• Performed regularly for All India Radio, Kolkata in 2006.
• Received ‘A’ gradation in 2015 and performed his first National Programme.
• Performing, teaching and holding workshops in EUROPE (France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland and Ireland), USA (New York, Woodstock, Los Angeles, Berkeley, San Francisco, San Rafael, Oakland), CANADA (Toronto), as well as in various major venues in INDIA since 2000.
• Honored as one of the best young artistes of the decade by the Saptak Music Festival, Ahmadabad in October 2010.
• Invited to perform several times at the prestigious Saptak Music Festival since 2008.
• Awarded as Finalist of the prestigious Aga Khan Music Awards, Lisbon 2019.

• NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
• Globus Festival à Graz, Austria (2001);
• Journées des 5 Continents à Martigny, Switzerland (2002);
• Festival de musique indienne à Berne, Switzerland (2002);
• Sangeet Sammelan, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, India (2004);
• Sangeet Sandhya, organized by Saptak, Ahmedabad, India (2005);
• Festival de l’Inde Lille 3000, in Lille, France (2006);
• Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland (2007);
• Fête de la musique, Alliance française of Calcutta, India (2007);
• Festival de l’Inde, in Grenoble, France (2007);
• Annual Saptak Festival, Ahmedabad, India (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014);
• Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Ireland (2008, 2009 and 2011);
• Pearse Museum, Dublin, Ireland (2013, 2014, 2015);
• Oriental music Festival, Ariège, South France (2009);
• Art Shastra Gallery, New Delhi, India (2010);
• Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland (2010);
• Cork University, concert and workshop, Ireland (2010);
• Auditorium Musée Guimet, National Asiatic Arts Museum in Paris, France (2011);
• Concert in Vitry-Sur-Seine (May 2012)
• Cite de la Musique, Marseille (June 2012);
• USA Tour (Nov-Dec 2012), including at Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael (December 2012);
• Concert at Terre Du Ciel, France (May 2002), (May 2014);
• Concerts and Teaching & Workshops in Ireland (Dublin, Killkeney, Cork, Glengarriff)
• France (Paris, Marseille, Toulouse, Brive) (May-June 2013);
• Chowdhury House Music Conference (November 2014);
• Musee Des Confluences, Lyon, France (May 2015);
• Cite de la Musique, Marseille, Namaste France (Oct 2016);
• Duet with Pandit Krishna Mohan Bhatt at Summer Mela Festival, Rome (July 2017);
• Toronto, Canada organized by Raag-Mala Music Society of Toronto (September 2017);
• USA Tour West and East Coast 2018, including Indian Arts Circle of New Orleans, Baton Rouge Bengali
Association, Triveni Organization at Buffalo;
• Europe Concert Tours 2011-2018 (Italy, France, Ireland, Spain);

Saugata will be accompanied on the tabla by Deepranjan Ghosh.

Saugata Roy Chowdhury

Saugata Roy Chowdhury