Anindo Chatterjee

Anindo Chatterjee’s initiation into the tabla came at the tender age of five, while watching his uncle, Biswanath Chatterjee play. Born into a musically inclined Kolkata family in 1953, it was hardly surprising that the child had prodigious talent. Another uncle, Debiprasad Chatterjee was an eminent sitar player and Anindo’s younger sister Keka is well known for her solo sitar performances.

Anindo’s ability and dexterity in producing crystal clear rhythms and beats on the drums received appreciation from many masters. After a brief stint as understudy to Ustad Afaq Hussain Khan of the Lucknow gharana, he moved to formal tutelage from Jnan Prakash Ghosh, with whom he trained and performed for three decades.

At the age of 17, Anindo won the prestigious President’s Award for the ‘Best Young Tabla Player’. His first foreign sojourn came in 1975 when he toured Europe with Nikhil Bannerjee, who remains his source of inspiration.

In addition to accompanying several prominent artists – sitarists Nikhil Banerjee, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Imrat Khan and Budhaditya Mukherjee, sarodists Amjad Ali Khan, Buddhadev Das Gupta, santoor player Shivkumar Sharma, vocalists Mallikarjun Mansur and Gangubai Hangal and flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia – Chatterjee has given many solo performances and recordings.

A solo tabla performance in the House of Commons in 1990 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2002 have been some milestone accomplishments in his long and illustrious musical career. In 2010, during President Barack Obama’s first visit to India he enthralled the audience at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The Anindo Chatterjee Institute of Tabla was founded in Washington in April 2010 as a non-profit organization with the mission of encouraging the art of the tabla through public educational programmes. 

The Anindo Chatterjee School of Tabla in New York offers two semesters every year using live streaming classes, online archives and other innovative learning platforms along with direct interaction with the guru, helping students all around the world enrich their knowledge and be initiated in the art of tabla.