
Background
Uttarpara Sangeet Chakra, established in 1957, has been earnestly engaged ever since in propagating Indian classical music among discerning audiences beyond the metropolis. Beginning with a conference of classical music and dance, the Chakra has kept this tradition alive for more than six decades, presenting artistes of national and international fame to thousands of connoisseurs and music lovers from the districts of West Bengal.
A Glory for Our Chakra
The Chakra takes pride in the great artistes who have graced its stage.
Vocal
Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Pandit Omkarnath Thakur, Smt. Hirabai Barodekar, Ustad Amir Khan, Begum Akhtar, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Jasraj, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Ustad Rashid Khan, Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, Pandit Rajan & Sajan Mishra, Pandit Manas Chakraborty and many others.
Instrumental
Ustad Bismillah Khan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Prof. Nikhil Banerjee, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Sangeetacharya M. S. Gopalakrishnan, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and many others.
Tabla & Percussion
Pandit Anokhelal Mishra, Pandit Kishan Maharaj, Pandit Samta Prasad, Ustad Keramatullah Khan, Ustad Alla Rakha, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, Pandit Kumar Bose, Ustad Sabir Khan and many others.
Dance
Pandit Gopi Krishna, Smt. Roshan Kumari, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Smt. Yamini Krishnamurthy and many others, whose dance performances have won the hearts of around 4,000 people every year, from distinguished guests and patrons to music lovers.
Our Music & Dance Academy
To encourage young and budding talent in the different fields of the performing arts, the Chakra also holds cultural programmes periodically.
In 1962 the Chakra established the Uttarpara Sangeet Chakra Music & Dance Academy, a classical music institution, with the late Sangeetacharya Chinmoy Lahiri as its Principal. The Academy was inaugurated by the late Prof. Humayun Kabir, the then Union Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs.
Today the Academy offers specialised courses in vocal and instrumental music as well as classical dance, taught by a panel of teachers. The institution is affiliated with Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh, and Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyapith, Lucknow. Its students of vocal and instrumental music, and of Kathak, Odissi and Bharatanatyam dance, appear in the annual examinations with glorious success.
Our Dream
With the dream of widening the scope for learning and propagating Indian classical music and dance, the Chakra has constructed a building with a spacious music hall for regular performances, and has opened a music library with a sizeable collection of books, cassettes and CDs (audio and video).
The construction of the building is complete, but owing to financial constraints the finishing work is yet to be done. Once it is finished, and with such rare collections preserved, the institution will be able to produce a number of qualified artistes every year.
Besides its classical music programmes, Uttarpara Sangeet Chakra regularly holds dance festivals and district-level conferences featuring local talent.
An Appeal
Indian classical music needs patronage for its survival and propagation. Uttarpara Sangeet Chakra has carved a niche for itself through its years of work, and therefore seeks your assistance and kind patronage for this sacred task, which will always be remembered by Uttarpara Sangeet Chakra, its 500 members and all music lovers.
Past Glories
A few of the many artistes who have performed for us, with the years they appeared.
Vocal
- Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
1957, 1959, 1966 - Pandit Omkarnath Thakur
1960 - Sangeetacharya Tarapada Chakraborty
1960 - Pandit Vinayakrao Patwardhan
1962 - Ustad Nazakat & Salamat Ali Khan
1961, 1964 - Ustad Amir Khan
1958, 1962, 1965 - Dr. Mallikarjun Mansur
1980 - Pandit Bhimsen Joshi
1961, 1963, 1968, 1973, 1981, 1982, 1991, 1993 - Prof. Chinmoy Lahiri
1959, 1962, 1967, 1968 - Sri Basavaraj Rajguru
1978 - Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan
1971 - Ustad Sharafat Hussain Khan
1967, 1976, 1979 - Ustad Munawar Ali Khan
1966, 1970, 1974, 1981, 1984 - Sri A. T. Kanan
1963, 1971 - Pandit Jasraj
1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2006 - Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna
1996 - Pandit Rajan & Sajan Mishra
1986, 1989, 1996, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2014 - Ustad Rashid Khan
1986, 1990, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010
- Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty
1986, 1990, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2016 - Pandit Manas Chakraborty
1977, 1981, 1990, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010 - Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar
2000, 2002 - Pandit Arun Bhaduri
2000, 2005, 2009 - Pandit Samaresh Chowdhury
1985, 2002 - Sri Sanjeev Abhyankar
2003, 2010, 2012 - Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan
2005 - Smt. Gangubai Hangal
1964, 1973 - Smt. Hirabai Barodekar
1963 - Begum Akhtar
1967 - Smt. Girija Devi
1968, 1970, 1975, 1978, 1998, 2013, 2016 - Smt. Kishori Amonkar
1984 - Smt. Sandhya Mukherjee
1957 - Smt. Sunanda Patnaik
1958, 1964, 1974 - Smt. Parveen Sultana
1977, 1983, 1992, 1995 - Smt. Malabika Kanan
1965, 1974 - Smt. Malini Rajurkar
1981
Instrumental
- Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan
1962 - Ustad Bismillah Khan
1960, 1968, 1980 - Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
1957, 1961, 1965, 1970, 1976, 1997 - Pandit Ravi Shankar
1958, 1963, 1976, 1982, 1985 - Ustad Vilayat Khan
1959, 1966, 1974, 1976, 1979 - Prof. Nikhil Banerjee
1957, 1961, 1968, 1973, 1975 - Prof. V. G. Jog
1962, 1964, 1967, 1969 - Prof. M. S. Gopalakrishnan
1982, 1984, 1996 - Ustad Imrat Khan
1970, 1989, 2005 - Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan
1960 - Smt. Sisirkana Dhar Chowdhury
1957, 1961 - Ustad Bahadur Khan
1960 - Ustad Amjad Ali Khan
1967, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1981, 1991, 1995
- Sri Radhika Mohan Maitra
1963 - Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia
1977, 1981, 1989, 1993, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2010, 2013, 2016 - Pandit Shivkumar Sharma
1990, 1998, 2006, 2009, 2011 - Ustad Shahid Parvez
1999, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016 - Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee
1986 - Sri Buddhadev Dasgupta
1975, 2002 - Sri Aparesh Chattopadhyay
1958, 1981 - Prof. Manilal Nag
1957, 1965, 1967, 1988, 1992 - Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar
2002, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2016 - Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
1998, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017 - Pandit Rakesh Chaurasia
2014, 2017 - Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya
1997, 2008, 2015, 2017
Tabla & Percussion
- Ustad Alla Rakha
1962 - Pandit Kishan Maharaj
1960, 1981 - Pandit Anokhelal Mishra
1958 - Ustad Keramatullah Khan
1957, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1977 - Pandit Samta Prasad
1957, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1968, 1975 - Pandit Mahapurush Mishra
1974, 1984 - Sri Kanai Dutta
1960, 1963 - Ustad Zakir Hussain
1990, 1992, 1995 - Prof. Shankar Ghosh
1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1995, 2000
- Prof. Biswanath Bose
1962, 1963 - Sri Shyamal Bose
1958, 1961, 1962, 1967 - Sri Kumar Bose
1981, 1982, 1990, 2002, 2011 - Prof. Swapan Chaudhuri
1986, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2013 - Ustad Sabir Khan
1977, 1989, 1994, 1996, 2004, 2005, 2017 - Pandit Bickram Ghosh
1998, 2000, 2008, 2014 - Pandit Anindo Chatterjee
1983, 1991, 1993, 1998, 2003 - Pandit Subhankar Banerjee
2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016
Dance
- Pandit Gopi Krishna
1967 - Pandit Birju Maharaj
1964, 1968, 1994, 1999 - Smt. Roshan Kumari
1959, 1962, 1965 - Smt. Yamini Krishnamurthy
1976 - Smt. Sanjukta Panigrahi
1981, 1993 - Pandit Chitresh Das
2002, 2006, 2009 - Dr. Malabika Mitra
1982, 1991, 1995, 2002, 2009

