Chandra Nath Shastri
![]() | This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (January 2018) |
Chandra Nath Shastri চন্দ্রনাথ শাস্ত্রী | |
---|---|
![]() Pandit Chandra with Tabla | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Chandra Nath shastri |
Also known as | Pandit Chandranath Shastri Ji |
Born | 23 December 1948 |
Origin | Calcutta, West Bengal, India |
Genres | Hindustani classical music, Benares gharana |
Occupation(s) | Classical musician |
Instruments | Tablā, Khol, Mridangam |
Years active | 1960–present |
Associated acts | Doordarshan |
Website | Official website |
Pandit Chandra Nath Shastri (Bengali: চন্দ্রনাথ শাস্ত্রী, Hindi: चंद्रनाथ शास्त्री, 23 December 1948), is one of the leading tabla (Indian hand percussion) artists and musicians from India, currently based in Kolkata.[not verified in body] He belongs to the Benares gharana style of Hindustani classical music. He is a retired staff artist of All India Radio and performed regularly for public-television broadcaster Doordarshan. He is also an expert astrologer.[1][better source needed]
Early life and family[]
Born in the Dhakuria area of Calcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal, in a well-known Bramhin (pandit) family, Chandra Nath Shastri was raised in a musical atmosphere. Soon his parents and family relocated to Varanasi (a.k.a. Banaras, Benares, Benaras), Uttar Pradesh (UP), where he undertook training in the Benares gharana style. He was influenced by poet and lyricist Rabindra Nath Tagore.[citation needed] His grandmother, Smt. Indira Devi was niece of Rabindra Nath Tagore. His father, Dr. , was a physician by profession but he was also a spiritual guru and musician (tabla player), vocal student of Rabindra Nath Tagore, and had directed and acted in theatre (Muktisnan, 1937; Sancharini, 1963).[2][3] His grandfather, Shri , was one of the first three trustees of Visva Bharati University.[1][better source needed]
Academics[]
Shastri completed his intermediate schooling at C. M. Anglo Bengali Inter College, Varanasi, UP. He then graduated in science from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.[1][better source needed]
Musical career[]
Shastri's father noted his interest in Hindustani classical music from a very young age and taught him to play some taals on tabla. At age 5 Shastri began learning from his guruji, Pandit Anokhelal Mishra of Banaras,[citation needed] and later from his son, . Shastri and his elder brother, Partha Nath Shastri, would go to Pandit AnokhelalJi to learn tabla. Shastri became a fifth-generation tabla maestro of Benares gharana. As a young teenager he became close to Pandit Mahadev Prasad Mishra, Pandit Kishan Maharaj, Pandit Samta Prasad, Pandit , and Ustad .[1][better source needed]
Chandra Nath Shastri became the champion in an All India Radio (AIR) national competition at age 23, and from a young age was often referred to by the title pandit. He became an AIR staff artist, Indian National Television Channel (Doordarshan) artist and also a stage performing artist. As a regular performer on TV, radio and stage, he has made several thousand performances and recordings.[1][better source needed] Now he is retired from AIR.[when?]
Performances[]
Shastri has performed in many concerts, including tabla solos, percussion ensembles, and accompanied with instrumentalists and vocalists, and worked with numerous music composers and film directors. He also performed with musicians including: Pandit Mahadev Prasad Mishra, Pandit V. G. Jog, Ustad , Ustad Rashid Khan, Pandit Lalmani Misra, Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta,[citation needed] Pandit , Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Pandit Rabindra Narayan Goswami, Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan, Pandit , Bidushi Purnima Sen, , Pandit , Pandit Ramesh Mishra, Manilal Nag, Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, Debashish Bhattacharya and many more.
Shastri judged many musical competitions and talent-hunt contests. He conducted research in Indian music and produced unique works on music, especially in the field of tabla. He is also an expert with Pakhawaj, Khol, Mridangam and other Indian percussion instruments.[1][better source needed]
Personal life[]
Shastri teaches tabla and other musical instruments, and has taught in many music schools, academies and institutes.[4][better source needed]
Shastri also studies spirituality. His father, the late Dr. Mouli Nath Shastri, was grand disciple of spiritual guru Sri Bijoy Krishna Goswami and disciple of . Shastri has researched the connection between music and spirituality and gives advice on this topic. He is also an expert astrologer.[1][better source needed]
See also[]
- Anokhelal Mishra
- Kishan Maharaj
- Samta Prasad
- Shankar Ghosh
- Zakir Hussain
- Anindo Chatterjee
- Swapan Chaudhuri
- Ashutosh Bhattacharya
- Kumar Bose
- Yogesh Samsi
References[]
- ^ a b c d e f g Official website: Pandit Chandra Nath Shatri
- ^ Muktisnan (1937) Casts by Sushil Majumdar
- ^ "Muktisnan (film – 1937) Casts". Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
- ^ Tabla Guru
External links[]
- 1948 births
- Living people
- 20th-century Indian musicians
- Musicians from Varanasi
- Hindustani instrumentalists
- Indian drummers
- Indian male classical musicians
- Indian music educators
- Indian percussionists
- Musicians from Kolkata
- Performers of Hindu music
- Tabla players
- World music percussionists
- 20th-century male singers