One of the most celebrated sarod players of our time, Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar belongs to the legendary Senia Maihar school of music, the most famous exponents of the same gharana being Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar. A quintessential exponent of Hindustani classical music, he is also a successful composer, a dedicated Guru to students who have established themselves all over the globe and a winner of many prestigious awards, notable among them being the President’s gold medal, the ITC SRA award and Sangeet Natak Akademi award, to name a few. The renowned musician is also the organiser of the annual star-studded Swara Samrat Music Festival. To be held in the city later this month, this year’s festival marks a decade since its inception and promises to be a rare treat for the true classical music connoisseur. The Telegraph caught up with the sarod maestro in the midst of his hectic schedule, flying between concert venues and getting ready for the event which he holds very close to his heart. Excerpts from a conversation with the articulate music genius.
The Swara Samrat festival is your brainchild. What inspired you to start it?
My guru Ustad Ali Akbar Khan passed away in 2009. Since then I had been trying initiate something to honour the memory of an artiste of his stature. After a lot of thought I came up with this idea of a music festival which had to be world-class, so we could pay a fitting tribute to him. Finally after overcoming a lot of hurdles, I could organise the first edition of Swara Samrat at Nazrul Mancha in January 2013. It was a great success and I was fortunate enough to get stalwarts like Pt Birju Maharaj, Pt Jasraj, Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia, Girija Devi, Ustad Ashish Khan, Pt Swapan Chowdhury and Ustad Zakir Hussain to perform at the festival.
This year’s festival is special in many ways...
This year is the 10th year of the Swara Samrat festival. We could not host the festival for the last two years because of the pandemic. However, I organised an online programme with almost 150 musicians, where we recorded the performances and beamed them across five cities. That was also a huge hit. But this year is really significant for us as it is the centenary year of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. It is also the 10th anniversary of Shreeranjani Foundation Trust, which was instituted in my father’s name. So this year’s festival is being hosted in a big way, in four important cities of India and for a total number of 10 days. We staged the first part of the festival in Delhi in July for two days. In December, we will have a grand four-day celebration in Calcutta followed by two days in Bengaluru in January. Finally, we will organise the last two days of the festival in Mumbai, in February 2023. I am glad to say that Swara Samrat is now one of the top-rated music festivals of India, where we not only have the support of well-known classical musicians but we also try to promote promising youngsters from across the country who I have personally handpicked to perform at this festival. I am also happy to say that in Delhi, the festival was a complete sell-out for both days. Another important achievement for us this year is that the government of West Bengal has kindly consented to name a road after Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. The street in south Calcutta now called Lovelock Place will be renamed after Ustadji in a formal announcement on December 15.
Zakir Hussain in performance at the 2019 Swara Samrat Festival
You have also got a very impressive line-up of artistes for this year’s festival ...
Yes this year we have a great number of illustrious artistes performing at Swara Samrat. Among the topmost musicians we have Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Zakir Hussain with Niladri Kumar, Pt Vishwamohan Bhatt, L Subramaniam, Ustad Rashid Khan, Pt Ajoy Chakraborty, Pt Ulhas Kashalkar, Ustad Alam Khan (Ustad Ali Akbar Khan’s son, who will come all the way from the US). We also have Pt Swapan Chaudhuri, Pt Kumar Bose, Kala Ramnath, Yogesh Samsi, Vijay Ghate and Rakesh Chaurasia. Among the young generation of performers, we have Indrayuddh Majumdar who will be performing at this festival for the first time and Omkar Dadarkar, who has gained recognition as a concert artiste. In fact we have the same line-up for our festival in Bengaluru and Mumbai too. So this is perhaps the only festival where you will get such a mix of established and budding artistes. I am also proud to add that ours is the only festival in the world at which Ustad Zakir Hussain has performed at all editions so far, over the years. He shares a special bond with Swara Samrat as it is a festival dedicated to the memory of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and we are definitely fortunate to have him perform for the ninth consecutive time for us this year.
What kind of response are you looking forward to in Kolkata?
The response in Calcutta is always above expectations. All our dates are nearly sold-out, and this has been the case from a month and a half before the actual event. Calcutta hosts many top-class music festivals, notably the Dover Lane Music Conference, where I myself have performed. But along with that, I must say that Swara Samrat has emerged as one of the premier music festivals in the country, with audiences thronging to watch performances from all parts of India and beyond. You will be surprised to know that classical music lovers from USA, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, UAE and many others have purchased online tickets well in advance, so that they are able to attend the Swara Samrat festival. Thanks to technology, these days it is very convenient to book tickets to any performance anywhere in the world, from any other place. And so most of our audience have bought their tickets online. In fact they have far outnumbered offline purchase of tickets. So yes, we are looking forward to a very positive response and huge support from the audience in Calcutta, as always. But what is most encouraging and perhaps the best part about Calcutta audiences is that the auditorium is filled with young people, who have an avid interest in classical music programmes. That is a very heartening thing for us because Shreeranjani Foundation, which organises events like Swara Samrat festival aims to build interest in classical music among the youth.
You have played for audiences all around the world. How would you compare audiences in India from those abroad?
Indian classical music has become popular in the West mainly because of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar. So classical artistes from India get opportunities to perform in Europe and America all through the year. The audience base over there is excellent and increasing everyday but it can never be compared to the atmosphere that is generated when we perform for Indian audiences. That said, Western audiences listen to any performance very seriously and try to understand it from its depth. Yet, the satisfaction I get from performing in India for Indian audiences is definitely greater. Particularly in Calcutta or South India, and now in Maharashtra as well, the audience is extremely knowledgeable. As you probably know, South India has become a hub of Hindustani classical music, and it is always a pleasure to perform for an audience that understand and enjoy your music well.
Tejendra Narayan Majumdar with his son Indrayuddh, also an accomplished sarod player
What is your opinion on the future of Indian classical music?
Oh I am very optimistic about it. I think the future is absolutely bright. You will be amazed to know that there are a number of fine, upcoming young classical musicians in the country. Though the pandemic had made everything come to a standstill for two years, performances are on in full swing now and new talents are being discovered.
With the tremendous influence of Western culture all around, do you think senior artistes like you need to take any special initiative to boost interest in Indian classical music?
Look, no art form can ever be static. The content may remain the same but the presentation undergoes changes. For instance, if you look at my festival, the stage design and ambience, the publicity, promotions, the auditorium decorations, are all contemporary in taste and style. Now we even have a selfie zone. Earlier, a classical music festival was a conservative affair, attended by grim-faced people. But, we need to update and upgrade ourselves to keep up with the times. We have put up attractive hoardings all over the city, distributed posters, and tried to get people interested in our programme. At the same time, I maintain the purity of my music. I will present pure classical music and make sure that my audience enjoys it. I will not add fusion elements just to draw crowds.
You have groomed students for many years now. Has the teaching process changed in any way?
Our basic method of teaching students is still according to the rules of Guru Shishya Parampara. However, students these days have access to ready online classes too, which makes learning more convenient to them. They are dynamic, versatile and have the ability to learn very quickly. What they lack is focus. It is our duty as teachers to help them stay focused, disciplined and patient. And most importantly, we need to give them enough platforms to explore and expose their talent, that will help them shine in their respective areas.
Finally, what do you have in mind for 2023?
I have recently composed music for films like Saibal Mitra’s A Holy Conspiracy and for ballets which gives me creative pleasure. There are many such projects on the anvil, but now, I want to give priority to my solo performances. I also want to do workshops and concerts with upcoming musicians. So my main task is to groom the next generation through classical music. My young students including my son Indrayuddh Majumdar, Kaushik Mukherjee, Pratik Shrivastav, are performing very well in concerts and making a name for themselves. That gives me the most satisfaction and I wish to mould more such young people into good classical musicians.