Akhtar Sadmani (2 January 1934 – 30 December 2003) was a Bangladeshi singer. In 2011, he was awarded

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak () is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of martyrs of the Bengali language movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contributions in a number of fields, including culture, education, and e ...

by the

government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

for his contribution to performance arts.

Early life and background

Sadmani was born in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

, but was brought up in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. His father, Akbar Ali, introduced him to music. At the age of ten, he received initial training from Bobby Daniel, a student of Zamiruddin Khan. In 1955, Bobby Daniel took him to the musician Omar Khan, who continued his training. In 1957, Omar Khan personally introduced Sadmani to Amir Khan (of the Indore Gharana). Since then he received training and advice from Amir Khan as well. He also received

Khyal Khyal or Khayal (ख़याल / خیال) is a major form of Hindustani classical music in the Indian subcontinent. Its name comes from a Persian language, Persian/Arabic language, Arabic word meaning "imagination". Khyal is associated with rom ...

training from Amanat Ali, Fateh Ali, Manjur Hossain Khan and Foyez Mohammad, and

Dhrupad Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music (for example in the Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampradaya), and is als ...

training from Zahiruddin Dagar and Faiyazuddin Dagar.

Career

In 1961 Sadmani returned to

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

and joined

Radio Pakistan The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (); also known as ''Radio Pakistan'', serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate its founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in P ...

in Dhaka a year later as an artist. He became a music director in Radio Bangladesh in 1966. In 1980, he established the "Sur Rang Academy of Classical Music". The academy was the first of its kind in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, solely devoted to Indian classical music.

Personal life and death

Sadmani had three sons: Late Asif Akhtar Sadmani, Amin Akhtar Sadmani, and Yusuf Akhtar Sadmani, and one daughter Mily Akhtar Sadmani. He suffered a heart attack and died on 30 December 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadmani, Akhtar 1934 births 2003 deaths Musicians from Dhaka Recipients of the Ekushey Padak 20th-century Bangladeshi male singers 20th-century Bangladeshi singers 20th-century Indian male classical singers Singers from Kolkata 20th-century Khyal singers