Sarod
Sudeshna
is a musician,
playing the rich tradition of north Indian classical music. Her
instrument is the sarod. The more than one meter long, nineteen strings
sarod is a descendant of a mid-Asian instrument, the rabab, witch was
modified seven generation ago, to better suit Indian music. Children
usually begin to acquaint with the instrument at early age of four,
and practice each passage or movement on the instrument for many
years. In contrary to sitar, the places of the individual notes on
the fretboard of the sarod are not set, as with the violin or cello.
This particularity, and similarity with bowed western and Indian
instruments is an important necessity for Indian music, knowing more
notes, or micro tones than the western scale.
Sarod, and music
generally, played in India is inherited from father to son, meaning
that there are very few female musicians in the country. There are
only three known female sarod players in the world, and Sudeshna is
one of them.
Sudeshna began to learn at the age of four from her father Pandit Shri
Krishnamohan Bhattacharya, who is
respected not only because of his sarod, but also because of his
vocal knowledge in dhrupad style. According to the tradition, Pandit
Shri Krishnamohan
Bhattacharya learnt from his father, Pandit Biswanath Bhattacharya, who was a great esraj
player, and the great sarod maestro Pandit Radhika Mohan Maitra. After studying from her father, Sudeshna gave her first
public recital at the age of seven. and in the same year she started
participating in musical competition too. Throughout three years she
was chosen as the best among all the applicants, winning the first
prize and a national scholarship for nine years.
From the age of eight Sudeshna began to learn sarod from one of
the greatest sarod maestroes of the world, the legend Ustad Amjad Ali
Khan. Sudeshna became Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Gandabandh disiple.
Sudeshna was the
youngest awarded by the Indian national scholarship, which she
received till her age of twenty. During this period she regularly
performed on radio, live and television.
She was twenty years old
when she majored in the musical conservatory of Allahbad, and again
received a national scholarship for further two years. In 2001 she
won the title of best Indian musician, and in 2002 the title of best
music performer in India. Sudeshna Bhattacharya is a holder of the degree "Sangeet Visharead" from Varanasi.
Sudeshna had her first European tour
in 1999 touring Belgium, Switzerland, France, Sweden and Norway, and
a half hour broadcast and one hour interview on Belgian public radio.
It was this occasion that the music loving audience of Europe got to
know her, and from this time she was regularly invited to
performances.
In 2003 the Ministry of Culture in France
invited her to the Strictly Mondial international festival, and
offered her a ten year contract. Since the she's living in
Marseilles, and she's giving concerts, teaching, recording and
participating in French cultural happenings with the support of the
French Ministry of Culture.
Till now her music was known by
audiences in India, France, Norway, Portugal, England, Algeria, Spain,
Italy, Israel,
Belgium, Greece, Switzerland, Hungary, Reunion, Monaco, Morocco,
Thailand Denmark Romania and Sweden. March 2007 she played on the Babel Med
International festival in Marseilles, from where fifty six French radio
channels broadcasting their concert.
Sudeshna
lives now in Norway, from 2015 she was a university lecturer for master students
at the Norwegian Academy of Music.
Sudeshna
is giving concerts, recording albums, making musical projects, touring
the world with her indian classical and fusion music.
