Our Founder

Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty is one of India’s most eminent Classical Vocalists. Born in Calcutta in 1952, his parents reminisce that he could sing before he could talk. Despite having fallen on hard times, they spared no pains in fulfilling the great potential the child showed. His father Shri Ajit Chakrabarty walked him through a first musical course, and afterwards oversaw his training under great teachers like the Late Kanaidas Bairagi, Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh and the Late Munawar Ali Khan.

Genius combined with exceptional talent earned young Ajoy Gold Medals in BA Honours and MA examinations of Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta. He received the singular distinction to be the first elected Fellow to receive a gold medal from the Sangeet Research Academy, Calcutta, a premier music institution of India devoted to the promotion of classical music in India and abroad, where Ajoy joined as a Scholar but was in a few years assigned the rank of Guru and member of the Expert Committee, in recognition of his extraordinary expertise in the field of music.

Reviews Ajoy Chakrabarty is something of miracle of natural gifts and tireless self-culture. —The Hindu ...Beyond criticism. —The Statesman Ajoy Chakrabarty has become the principal transmitter of the style of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. —The Boston Globe ...What is perhaps most impressive about the work of Indian masters such as Ajoy Chakrabarty is its seamless blend of austere tradition and bustling improvisation. —The Washington Post

He has had many more firsts and bests to his credit. He was the first Indian Classical Vocalist who was invited to perform in Pakistan.

He was the first recipient of the Kumar Gandharva Award the most prestigious National Award for the best musician of India under forty-five years of age.

As his musical genius prompts him to respect and cultivate all kinds of good music he has been proving his unique excellence in various genres of Indian music. Hence he received the President's Award for the best male playback singer in the 37th National Film Festival 1990 and many State Awards of note.

Since his twenties, Pandit Chakrabarty has been spanning the cultural gulf between India and the West through his extensive musical tours in Europe and America, attempting to transmute Indian vocal classical music in a universal idiom of feeling. Numerous albums, records and CDs of his classical and light classical songs published in India and abroad endear him even to those listeners who do not know the language of the lyrics.

Pandit Chakrabarty has written a book about his approach to musical education; Also titled Shrutinandan, this book contained the seeds of the techniques to be used in the institution itself.