Samir Chatterjee

Samir Chatterjee is an Indian tabla virtuoso of the Farrukhabad gharana, widely recognized as a performer, composer, author, and educator. Based in the New York–New Jersey area, he maintains an active international career as a soloist and collaborator across Indian classical, jazz, and contemporary music contexts.

He began his early training with Pandit Bankim Ghosh, Pt. Balaram Mukherjee, Pt. Rathin Dhar, and Mohammad Salim, and later received long-term guidance from Pt. Amalesh Chatterjee and Pt. Shyamal Bose. All his gurus belonged to the Farrukhabad lineage, which forms the foundation of his style. He is graded ‘A’ by the Indian national radio and television and appears on numerous recordings.

As an accompanist, he has performed with leading figures of Hindustani music, including Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, Jasraj, Nikhil Banerjee, Shivkumar Sharma, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Amjad Ali Khan, Shujaat Khan, Rashid Khan, Kaushiki Chakraborty, and many others. He has also performed at major international platforms, including the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo and appearances at the United Nations General Assembly.

Chatterjee is active in cross-cultural work, collaborating with artists from jazz, Western classical, and avant-garde traditions. His projects as composer-director include Indo-Flame (Indian–Flamenco collaboration), Chhand-Anand (world percussion ensemble), RabiThakur (a ballet on Tagore), and thematic productions such as Meghadootam and Dawn to Dusk and Beyond. He has also worked with guitarist Sanjay Mishra on the album Blue Incantation.

A dedicated pedagogue for over three decades, he is the founder-director of Chhandayan, an organization devoted to Indian music and culture. He has served on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music, University of Pittsburgh, and The New School and has taught at Yale, Columbia, NYU, and Princeton. His publications include A Study of Tabla, Music of India, and Those Forty Days, reflecting his scholarly engagement with the art.

Since 2008, he has worked toward the revival of music education in Afghanistan through visits, workshops, and cultural initiatives. His contributions have been recognized with awards such as the Sunshine Award, Jadu Bhatta Award, Acharya Varistha Award, Taal Mani Award, Lifetime Achievement honors, and the Pt. V. G. Jog Award.

Across performance, writing, and teaching, Samir Chatterjee’s work reflects a consistent belief in the social and cultural value of music.