Debasish Sarkar
| Debasish Sarkar was born in Calcutta in 1963, and over the years,
has emerged as one of the finest tabla virtuosi of the world. At the age
of five, Debasish was introduced to the late Pandit Kanai Dutta by his
parents, who are themselves connoisseurs of percussion music. From that
point, there has been no looking back.
Between 1968 and 1977, Debasish studied with Kanai Dutta, and after the latter's premature death, became a disciple of Padma Bhushan Jnan Prakash Ghosh, one of the most respected pedagogues of classical music in India in this century. For twenty years, Debasish imbibed from Jnan Babu, the intricacies of all six tabla gharanas (or pedagogical streams), and also some of Mr. Ghosh's own compositions. Debasish's repertoire draws mainly from the Farrukhabad, Punjab and Lucknow Gharanas. Debasish's performing career started very early in life when he won the All Bengal Music competition in 1976 at the age of thirteen years. By fifteen, he was already accompanying a number of renowned artistes, mainly students of Jnan Prakash Ghosh. Again, in 1980, Debasish made the headlines by winning the President's Gold Medal for the All India Radio Music Competition.This coveted prize earned him a honorary empanelment with All India Radio and he started his professional career as a musician. Seventeen year old Debasish Sarkar gave a solo tabla recital for His Excellency President Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy at the Presidential House (Rastrapati Bhavan) in Delhi. Debasish Sarkar is currently an "A Grade" artiste of AIR and National Television (Doordarshan). His success also caught the attention of many serious professional musicians including the stalwart of sarode music, Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta. Since 1981, Debasish has been performing regularly on the concert stage as well as in recordings with Pandit Das Gupta. Among others, he has had the privilege to perform with Pandit Ravi Shankar and the late Ustads Nissar Hussain Khan and Munnawar Ali Khan. Some of the other artistes that Debasish has accompanied are: Sri Ajoy Chakrabarty, Sri Manas Chakrabarty, Srimati Purnima Sen, Sri Arun Bhaduri, late Sri Prosun Banerjee, Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, Srimati Malabika Kanan and Sri Rashid Khan (all vocalists), Sri Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, Sri Debasish Bhattacharya, Sri Dhyanesh Khan, Sri Anirban Das Gupta, Sri Prattyush Banerjee (all sarode), Sri Nayan Ghosh, Srimati Joya Biswas, Pandit Manilal Nag, Pandit Bimal Mukherjee, Sri Budhaditya Mukherjee, Ustad Imrat Khan and Sri Sugato Nag (all sitar), Pandit V. G. Jog, Srimati Sisirkana Dhar Chowdhury (violin). Debasish has had two very successful tours of Europe with Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta in 1994 and 1996. During these travels, he has featured at most leading musical centers of the continent. These include the Cite de la Musique (Paris), Hoschule Fur Musik (Koln), Radio Frankfurt Music Festival, and the Royal Dutch Conservatory (Den Hague). A much respected soloist, Mr. Sarkar has given solo tabla recitals across India, and has also recorded his performances for commercial records which will be released in the near future in the United States of America. He has also been a part of the "Jnan Prakash Ghosh rhythm ensemble" for a number of performances. Debasish's participation in leading Indian music conferences such as Dover Lane (Calcutta), Tansen (Gwalior), Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (Delhi), Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan (Nationwide) and Gharana Sammelan have left a lasting impact on the audiences. Contact Information:
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