Purbayan Chatterjee

Purbayan Chatterjee (Bengali পূর্বায়ণ চট্টোপাধ্যায়; born in Kolkata 12 September 1976) is an Indian sitar player and composer who lives in Kolkata, India. He is noted for amalgamating traditional Indian classical music with contemporary world music genres.

Purbayan Chatterjee has learned Sitar from his father Parthapratim Chatterjee. Purbayan’s music is inspired by the sound of Pt. Nikhil Banerjee. He has performed as a solo artist and as a part of the groups Shastriya Syndicate and Stringstruck. He is also a vocalist and has performed in duet with Shankar Mahadevan (Dwo - from the album Stringstruck).

He has worked the ground-breaking project Shastriya Syndicate – the first Indian Classical Band – Indian Classical band with a contemporary touch, which has performed the world over like Roskilde Festival, Denmark, OzAsia Festival, Australia, Traumzeit Festival, Germany etc. The album “Lehar” released by Times Music in 2008 has remained the best-seller for a year and a half. Shankar Mahadevan has performed the title song “Dwo” in Purbayan’s super-hit fusion album, “Stringstruck” released by Times Music. The number has also been compiled in the album “Aman ki Asha”, an Indo-Pak peace project released by Times Music and has also received the Palm IRAA Award for the Best World Music Album of the Year. He has designed the “Dwo” which is a Doppelganger of the Indian Sitar. He has performed several times with tabla artist Ustad Zakir Hussain.

• Chaterjee was a recipient of the President of India Award for being the Best Instrumentalist of the country at the age of 15. He has also received the Aditya Vikram Birla Award for excellence and contributions to the field. He has also been honoured with the Rasoi Award by Rotary International in 1995
• Aditya Vikram Birla Award

• Horizon - by Peshkar Music Germany
• Nirman - By Sense World Music UK
• Samwad - By Sense World Music UK (duet with violinist Kala Ramnath) - Songlines World Music Magazine Top Of The World (Top ten)
• Rasayana - By Sense World Music UK (duet with flautist Shashank) - Songlines Top Of The World
• Aavishkar - By Sense World Music UK (duet with violinist Kala Ramnath) - Songlines Top Of The World
• Taalash - By Sense World Music UK
• Rising Stars Magical Fingers - by HMV
• Singing Sitar - by Virgin Records India
• Lehar - Times Music (Purbayan's group Shastriya syndicate - The First Indian Classical Band ) Top of the charts for 6 months (Planet M charts and rhythm house charts)
• Purbayan - Times Music with Pt Anindo Chatterjee tabla
• Stringstruck - Times Music - Awarded Best World Music Album at Iraa Palm Expo 2009 - featuring Shankar Mahadevan, Taufiq Qureshi, Rakesh Chaurasia, Atul Raninga
• Sitarscape - EMI Virgin
• Hemisphere - Times Music

The album Lehar released by Times Music in 2008 has remained the bestseller for a year and a half.

Shankar Mahadevan has performed the title song Dwo in Chatterjee's fusion album Stringstruck, released by Times Music. The number has also been compiled in the album Aman ki Asha, an Indo-Pak peace project released by Times Music and has also received the Palm IRAA Award for the Best World Music Album of the Year.

Chatterjee has performed in the following venues:

• Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
• Sydney Opera House
• Ted Baxter Hall, Cape Town
• Konzerthaus, Berlin
• Esplanade Theatres, Singapore
• Adelaide Festival Centre
• Theatre de la Ville, Paris
• Salle Gaveau, Paris
• Palais de Beaux Arts, Brussels
• Royal Festival Hall, London

He has also performed in the following music festivals:

• Pt Bhimsen Joshi National Festival of Music and Dance, Hyderabad, India.
• Bath International Music Festival, UK
• Brighton Festival, UK
• WOMAD, UK
• Fishguard International Music Festival, UK
• International Music Symposium, Germany
• Millennium Festival WDR Koln, Germany
• The Port Fairy Folk Festival, Australia
• The North Sea Jazz Festival, Cape Town
• World Music Festival, Chicago
• Alchemy Festival, UK

• "Darbar International Music Festival: Nina Verdee/Purbayan Chatterjee/Hary Kumar Siva/Giuliano Modarelli/RN Prakash/Sukhdeep Dhanjal/Hermeet Virdee at Queen Elizabeth Hall". Time Out London. 5 April 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2011. 
• http://womad.org/artists/purbayan-chatterjee/