The Chairman, Members of Executive Board & General Body of Pracheen Kala Kendra Chandigarh

Cordially Invites you to the 13 th ceremony of Guru Madan Lal Koser Award 2017 to be conferred upon Legendary Vocalist Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty (Scion and doyen of the Patiala-Kasur Gharana)

Shri V.P. Singh Badnore (Hon'ble Governor of Punjab& Administrator U.T. Chandigarh)

has very Kindly consented to be the Chief Guest and confer the award upon the maestro

on Saturday, February 18, 2017 at 6:30 p.m.

The award ceremony will be followed by Pandit ji's Vocal Recital

Accompanists Ustad Akram Khan (Tabla) Paromita Mukherjee (Harmonium)

email: [email protected] Venue website: www.pracheenkalakendra.org Tagore Theatre Sector-18, Chandigarh Please be seated by 6:15 p.m. Seats available on first come first served basis. Children below five are not allowed. R.S.V.P. Keep your mobile phone on silent mode during the programme Ph.: 2600451, 2274829, 2662785, 2264527 Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty Guru Madan Lal Koser Vocalist Par Excellence An Inimitable Visionary, able Organiser and Dance Guru (20/06/1930 – 27/03/2008) Pandit is poised nearly as a cult figure among all the legendary Indian “Guru M.L. Koser Award” is a small token of appreciation to the contribution and talent Classical Vocalists of today. Although considered a scion and doyen of the Patiala-Kasur of an Artist of Repute by an Artist par excellence, that is why this award is so special Gharana (style), primarily representing Ustad Sahib's gayaki, he can and unique. This Award is dedicated in the name of Late Guru M.L. Koser, Founder, equally portray even the most subtle features of other major classical gharanas of India like Pracheen Kala Kendra who was an epitome of selfless service towards the promotion Indore, , Jaipur, Gwalior, Agra, Kirana, Rampur and even Carnatic music of South India. of Indian Classical Art and Culture. He continues to be the image of personified This is perhaps because of his wide exposure to various genres and their maestros and creativity and his deeds speak more than any blizzard of words. musicologists besides his own gurus. His father, late Shri Ajit Kumar Chakraborty, Shri Pannalal Samanta and Shri Kanaidas Baigari were the ones, with whom his initial orientation happened, before he was warmly accepted by Guru M.L. Koser came to the City Beautiful with a vision and a dream for which he the ultimate and the greatest Guru of all times, toiled day and night with full commitment, conviction and perseverance. He dared to Padmabhushan Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh. heed to the call of his heart and executed it meticulously and successfully which made His training was then continued under Ustad him a Legend as he is Munawar Ali Khan (son of Ustad Bade Ghulam remembered by artists all over Ali Khan). the world today for his Besides that, he had learnt from several other extraordinary achievement in maestros like Ustad Latafat Hussain Khan, Pt. the field of art and culture. He Nibruttibua Sarnaik, Vidushi Hirabai Barodekar started his journey alone in and in Carnatic styles from Professor, Dr. M. 1956, but later he was joined Balamuralikrishna, that kept enriching his by his equally talented wife musical expression and repertoire. Despite G u r u S h o b h a K o s e r. having such pure classical “taleem” in the Together they worked Dhrupad- genre, he is amazingly adroit tirelessly to realize their and a trend setter, in rendering all the lighter dreams. Today the name of forms like , Tappa, Geet, Bhajan, “Guru M.L. Koser” has Keertan, Folk, Film/Non-Film and modern songs, in several different languages, like Hindi, become synonymous with Art Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, Telegu, Persian and even in English, which all together, has given him the single distinguished recognition of being an absolutely one-of-a-kind musical personality, in and Culture in the country. the music scene of India today. Highly talented Guru M.L. He graduated top of his class in music, both in B.A and M.A from the prestigious Rabindra Koser started on this path and Bharati University in and joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1977. Being left behind a trail of footsteps the academy's very first outstanding scholar, he became their only gold medalist fellow, a member of their Experts' Committee and a senior Guru where he still serves as a prime mover for next generations to follow in all its promotional courses to date. to get inspired. He still continues to be a guiding light which will inspire the youngsters for generations to come to have a vision, respect it and realize it with untiring hard Recipient of as many as 4 prestigious national awards – by the President of India - Padma Shri work, discipline and proactive attitude as he did. (2011), Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (Delhi, 1999-2000), The Kumar Gandharva Samman (National Award, 1993) and the Best Male Playback Singer (Bengali Film “Chhandaneer”1990) - he has also received felicitations from both the former and present Chief Ministers of his own According to Guru M.L. Koser, dance should not be divided into boundaries of State, West Bengal. different classical styles. Dance for him was an expression of heart with a conscious as well as serene purpose. That is why he learnt almost all classical styles of dances In April and May of 2012 the Maha Sangeet Samman and the Bangavibhusan Samman, two of like Manipuri, Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Kathakali and Modern Dance and incorporated the State's highest awards, were also conferred upon him. all these styles and evolved a new style which could express almost every thought and He is the first Indian classical vocalist to be invited by and China and by BBC for their portray any story successfully on the stage. He dreamt of promoting Arts and Culture Golden Jubilee Celebration of India's Independence. in a unique manner. His tireless efforts and brilliance is unparalleled even today and Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty has performed in innumerable concerts and is perhaps the busiest shall remain so for times immemorial. He did pioneering work for the promotion of Art classical vocalist of his generation today. He regularly participates in all the major prestigious and Culture in Punjab since 1950's when Punjab was more known for agriculture than annual music conferences & festivals – all over India and abroad. He has performed in some of classical art, and he lighted a lamp of classical music & dance in Punjab at that time the most prestigious venues around the world like the Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, which is commendable indeed. New Orleans Jazz Preservation Hall – in the US, including being the recipient of Golden Key to the city of New Orleans; The Royal Albert hall and Queen Elizabeth hall in the UK, Theatre de la Even today he belongs to such a rare species of artists who not only worked for their Ville in France; Sammukhananda, Nehru Center, NCPA in Mumbai, Shirifort auditorium in New own promotion but also for the development and upliftment of fellow artists as well. Delhi-India, to name a very few. M.L. Koser was of the view that they should do something big and different which will Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty has more than 100 albums to his credit, published from India, US, UK, pass on their rich cultural heritage to generations to come and something which will be Holland and Germany that feature pure classical and light classical numbers including , aesthetically beautiful and existentially meaningful and with this objective, he in 1956 dadras, bhajans and other types of devotional songs. He also has numerous recordings of founded an organization 'PRACHEEN KALA KENDRA' which at present is the Syamasangeet, Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrulgeeti and Raagpradhan that are widely popular. foremost organization dedicated to art and culture and is no less than an institution of Panditji also created , "SHRUTINANDAN" , 'A musical kingdom ' a foremost and renowned national importance. The Kendra is dedicatedly working towards achieving its goal of institution in Kolkata imparting training in Music to pupils from all walks of path. status of a unique kind of University dedicated to Art and Culture in the Country. BOOK POST (Card only) KALA

N K E E

E N

D H

R n C

A A

R P

o Estd. 1956

i 13th

t Guru Madan Lal Koser

Award Ceremony a

On t

Saturday, February 18, 2017 i at 6:30 p.m.

v Venue Tagore Theatre

Sector 18, Chandigarh n

Organised by: PRACHEEN KALA KENDRA, Sector-35/B, Chandigarh.

Ph. 0172-2600451, 2662785, 2661171 I