Ronu Majumdar is an Indian flautist (Bansuri player) in the Hindustani classical music tradition.

Ronu Majumdar
Ronu Majumdar in September 2024
Ronu Majumdar in September 2024
Background information
Birth nameRanendranath Majumdar
BornBenares (India)
OccupationFlute player
InstrumentFlute

Early life

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Ronu Majumdar was born in Benares. His father was a homeopathic doctor, oil painter, and amateur flautist who took lessons from Pandit Pannalal Ghosh, who provided him with a strong early grounding.[1]

Awards, nominations, and music collaborations

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In 1981, Ronu Majumdar won the first prize at the All India Radio competition, and the President's Gold Medal.[2][3]

He has associated with Pandit Ravi Shankar on albums like Passages and Chants of India. He has more than 30 audio releases to his credit. He won the prestigious Aditya Vikram Birla Award in 1999 for his dedication to music. Sahara India Pariwar felicitated him with a lifetime achievement award on the occasion of Jyoti Diwas 2001. In 2014 he won the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi award.

Today, Ronu Majumdar is among the more popular musicians on this instrument, and is especially popular with the younger generation for his creative improvisations. Pt Majumdar's music is rooted in the Maihar gharana which has musicians of eminence like Pt Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan to its credit. Apart from his concerts all over India in different music festivals, he also participated in the Festival of India in Moscow and Asiad '82 in New Delhi. He has toured extensively in Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.

Majumdar is also known for a number of collaborations and jugalbandis with other leading instrumentalists. An innovative composer, he has also composed several pieces in a fusion of Hindustani classical with other forms of music, particularly Western classical music, including the projects Carrying Hope (Music Today),[4] A Traveller's Tale, Song of Nature (Magnasound), Kal Akela Kahan (Plus Music).

He has also provided short training sessions to budding young artists like Raghavendran Rajasekaran from Singapore. Most recently Pt. Ronuji has conducted a concert of 5,378 flautists on one stage called Venu Naad under the banner of ‘Art of Living’. This event was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.[5]

He became a music producer for Nadi Ki Beti Sundari (A Forgotten Daughter), a Bollywood movie produced by Nikhil Chandwani under Walnut Discoveries Pvt. Ltd.[6]

 
Ronu Majumdar after performance at Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal

References

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  1. ^ "Pandit Ronu Majumdar at Darbar Festival". Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Sounds Of Indian Flute To Fill Cabell Hall On Oct. 2". University of Virginia News. 17 September 1999. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Flute Concert by Pt. Ronu Majumadar". SPIC MACAY, IIT Kanpur. Archived from the original on 14 July 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
  4. ^ Rajan, Anjana (3 March 2003). "Krishna's journey... with Ronu Majumdar". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 November 2003. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Bansuri legend Pandit Ronu Majumdar conducts 5378 flautists on one stage". The Times of India. 4 February 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  6. ^ Nadi Ki Beti Sundari Official Trailer, Ravi Bhushan Bhartiya, Priyanshi, Deepak Haldar on YouTube
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