Sanjeeb Sircar
About
Indian Classical Sitar performer/teacher, pioneer and innovator, Sanjeeb Sircar has a music career of more than forty years during which he has performed and taught music at many places in India, USA, Australia, Italy and England. He holds a master’s degree in Indian Music (Sitar), from the Prayag Sangit Samiti, Allahabad, a diploma in Indian Music (Sitar), from the Benaras Hindu University, Varanasi and an honorary doctorate from the University of Jerusalem, Chennai. Prominent among his teachers are Ustad Shujaat Khan, the late Pandit Banwari Lal (1912-2003) of Allahabad, Dr. Raj Bhan Singh, and Dr. K.C. Gangrade of Varanasi and other senior musicians. His recordings are regularly featured over select TV and Radio broadcasts internationally.
He has also attended and participated in lecture demonstrations/workshops, and performances of numerous eminent scholars and musicologists over the years. A bright creative spirit, a masterful control of technique with a depth of original purity of traditional norms are the hallmarks of his musical expression. Also a pioneer in the field of using the Sitar in authentic Jazz, Christian and Gospel, and other world music forms for more than thirty years, he has successfully managed to maintain the high levels standards of his Indian Classical Sitar while successfully trying to evolve new, meaningful, creative expressions with other genres of music. Besides the Indian Classical Sitar, his principal instrument and forte, he plays a number of different styles of music including Jazz, Rock, Pop, Fusion, Choir, Western/European Classical, Country and Western and instruments including the Guitar, Piano/Keyboards, Bass and Tabla and Voice.
In the year 2008 he was awarded the Best International Ambient Male Artist, award of the Toronto Exclusive Magazine International Awards and in 2014, an Award of Excellence by the India World Cultural Forum. New Delhi. Sanjeeb has played with many fine musicians from India and other countries and has recorded four music albums and many tracks for other productions. He is presently based at New Delhi and Allahabad, India with his wife.
Students are taught according to their individual capabilities and needs by looking, listening, and trying, and the traditional method.
Lesson plans include:
- Learning about the parts and the handling of the instrument.
- Correct position of holding the instrument, tuning, and maintenance.
- Practical and theoretical working knowledge of the following:
- The melodic system in North Indian Music (Raags).
- Introduction to the main sections in the development of a raga while performing, namely Alap, Jor, Jhalla, Tans, Vilambit and Drut Gats.
- Study of some common Ragas and melodic exercises and compositions based on them.
- The rhythmic system in Indian Music (Tala).
- Study of some common Talas/Rhythms.
- Practical demonstrations and training sessions of all of the above.
- Bol or plucking patterns.
- A brief comparative analysis of Western (European) Classical Music and North Indian Music.
- History and development of the Sitar and Indian Music.
Anything else according to the personal need and interest of the student.
Indian Classical Sitar performer/teacher, pioneer and innovator, Sanjeeb Sircar has a music career of more than forty years during which he has performed and taught music at many places in India, USA, Australia, Italy and England. He holds a master’s degree in Indian Music (Sitar), from the Prayag Sangit Samiti, Allahabad, a diploma in Indian Music (Sitar), from the Benaras Hindu University, Varanasi and an honorary doctorate from the University of Jerusalem, Chennai. Prominent among his teachers are Ustad Shujaat Khan, the late Pandit Banwari Lal (1912-2003) of Allahabad, Dr. Raj Bhan Singh, and Dr. K.C. Gangrade of Varanasi and other senior musicians. His recordings are regularly featured over select TV and Radio broadcasts internationally.
He has also attended and participated in lecture demonstrations/workshops, and performances of numerous eminent scholars and musicologists over the years. A bright creative spirit, a masterful control of technique with a depth of original purity of traditional norms are the hallmarks of his musical expression. Also a pioneer in the field of using the Sitar in authentic Jazz, Christian and Gospel, and other world music forms for more than thirty years, he has successfully managed to maintain the high levels standards of his Indian Classical Sitar while successfully trying to evolve new, meaningful, creative expressions with other genres of music. Besides the Indian Classical Sitar, his principal instrument and forte, he plays a number of different styles of music including Jazz, Rock, Pop, Fusion, Choir, Western/European Classical, Country and Western and instruments including the Guitar, Piano/Keyboards, Bass and Tabla and Voice.
In the year 2008 he was awarded the Best International Ambient Male Artist, award of the Toronto Exclusive Magazine International Awards and in 2014, an Award of Excellence by the India World Cultural Forum. New Delhi. Sanjeeb has played with many fine musicians from India and other countries and has recorded four music albums and many tracks for other productions. He is presently based at New Delhi and Allahabad.
Lesson plans include:
- Learning about the parts and the handling of the instrument.
- Correct position of holding the instrument, tuning, and maintenance.
- Practical and theoretical working knowledge of the following:
- The melodic system in North Indian Music (Raags).
- Introduction to the main sections in the development of a raga while performing, namely Alap, Jor, Jhalla, Tans, Vilambit and Drut Gats.
- Study of some common Ragas and melodic exercises and compositions based on them.
- The rhythmic system in Indian Music (Tala).
- Study of some common Talas/Rhythms.
- Practical demonstrations and training sessions of all of the above.
- Bol or plucking patterns.
- A brief comparative analysis of Western (European) Classical Music and North Indian Music.
- History and development of the Sitar and Indian Music.
Anything else according to the personal need and interest of the student.
Lesson plans include:
- Learning about the parts and the handling of the instrument.
- Correct position of holding the instrument, tuning, and maintenance.
- Practical and theoretical working knowledge of the following:
- The melodic system in North Indian Music (Raags).
- Introduction to the main sections in the development of a raga while performing, namely Alap, Jor, Jhalla, Tans, Vilambit and Drut Gats.
- Study of some common Ragas and melodic exercises and compositions based on them.
- The rhythmic system in Indian Music (Tala).
- Study of some common Talas/Rhythms.
- Practical demonstrations and training sessions of all of the above.
- Bol or plucking patterns.
- A brief comparative analysis of Western (European) Classical Music and North Indian Music.
- History and development of the Sitar and Indian Music.
Anything else according to the personal need and interest of the student.