3 – 4.30 pm, Sunday, September 8 – BUY TICKETS
A concert in Hindustani classical music by renowned Sarod player, Manik Khan, accompanied by Debanjan Bhattacharjee on the Tabla.
Manik Khan has been steeped in the ancient melodies of North Indian classical music since birth. The youngest son of the legendary Sarod maestro, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, he grew up listening to his father in countless concerts and attending his classes at the esteemed Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, CA.
He initially studied Tabla under the guidance of Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, but the greater call to follow in the footsteps of his family brought Manik, at the age of 13, to formally train on the Sarod with his father. He spent his formative years accompanying his father on stage, touring for the last decade of his father’s extensive and iconic performance career. Manik’s own solo career has brought him to India on tour, as well as performing throughout the Bay Area and the U.S.
Today, Manik also collaborates with musicians and various ensembles to present his father’s lineage of Hindustani classical music—honoring both the tradition and its remarkable history, while also helping to make it accessible to new audiences. This has included partnering with Bay Area schools to bring Indian Classical Music to youth orchestras, collaborating with the late conductor Michael Morgan, recording in mixed-mediums, and live-streaming.
Manik continues to broaden and develop his range as a musician by studying alongside his brother, Alam Khan, the current director of instrumental music at the Ali Akbar College of Music.
Debanjan Bhattacharya is a disciple of Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri. Debanjan started learning Tabla in Kolkata, India, at a very young age with the support and encouragement of his parents. His initial training in Tabla was nurtured by his grandfather Late Sri Damarupani Bhattacharya and his uncle Sri Sudipto Bhattacharya. Later, he also studied with the Late Sri Ratan Ghatak who was a senior disciple of Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri. Debanjan performs regularly with instrumentalists, vocalists, and dancers. He has also played solos and given lectures on Tabla and Indian musical tradition at the University of Connecticut, Utah State University, Brigham Young University, and Utah Valley University among others. Besides playing with Hindustani classical musicians, Debanjan also collaborates with Kathak, Bharatanatyam, and also musicians and dancers of various other genres.While he holds a career as a professor of Statistics, Debanjan remains busy with performing and teaching Tabla and continues to pursue his studies of music under the tutelage and blessings of his illustrious Guru Sri Swapan Chaudhuri.