At the age of two and a half, somewhere in Calcutta, Samir Chatterjee approached a tabla. An observer noticed and told his parents to give him the opportunity to learn it. He found his first teacher at age 11; he was allowed to perform alone for the first time at 15. (There’s a story about a student who started learning at 13, and performed alone for the first time at 39. Usually it’s somewhere in between the two extremes). What happened since is likely a product of daily practice, of loving that practice. Maybe that’s how he’s kept a childlike love of what he does. He has become one of the most famous performers of Indian classical music or, to be precise, of North Indian or Hindustani classical music. He’s played with all the leading Indian classical musicians—yes, including Ravi Shankar—with orchestras and Peter Gabriel. He travels around the world to meet his selected group of 35 students. He has been referred to with the honorary title of Pandit, “scholar and teacher,” though he doesn’t use it.
Two Tracks
An interview with Samir Chatterjee
