Arnab Chakrabarty

Arnab Chakrabarty stands among today’s foremost sarod artists, celebrated for his crystal-clear phrasing, imaginative improvisations, and unwavering respect for classical raga structures. Born into the Lucknow-Shahjahanpur lineage, he has devoted over thirty-five years to his art, studying under Shahjahanpur masters Dr. Kalyan Mukherjea, Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta and Ustad Irfan Muhammad Khan, and receiving vocal guidance from Pandit Yeshwantbua Joshi of the Gwalior Gharana. As custodian of several hundred traditional compositions, he brings both technical mastery and living authenticity to every performance.

Over two decades as a professional musician have taken Arnab to nearly a thousand concerts across thirty-three countries. He has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra in 2023, played at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Copenhagen Jazz Festival, and was invited to perform at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, where HRH Prince Charles attended, alongside earlier engagements at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, Damascus’s Silk Road Festival and Budapest’s Trafo House of Contemporary Culture. In 2023, he launched the Dr. Kalyan Mukherjea Memorial Concert in Calcutta, an annual celebration of sarod music that features India’s leading classical artists.

Arnab’s commitment to his tradition extends beyond the stage. In 2023, he received the Chalmers Arts Fellowship from the Ontario Arts Council and secured funding from the Canada Council for the Arts to create “The Music of Lucknow-Shahjahanpur,” followed by an Arts Abroad grant to tour the UK and Spain. He served as a consultant and also appeared on screen in Chaitanya Tamhane’s acclaimed film The Disciple in 2021. His Toronto Arts Council–supported solo album, Cat’s Cradle: Fresh Expressions in Vintage Ragas, was released digitally in June 2022 to widespread praise. He has lectured at King’s College London, contributes to film soundtracks (including the Oscar-winning "Born Into Brothels"), and collaborates with the Lute Legends collective, joining forces with lute, pipa and oud virtuosi to explore new cross-cultural frontiers. Through performance, teaching and recording, Arnab Chakrabarty remains a driving force in preserving and evolving the sarod’s legacy worldwide.,