Ronu Majumdar is an Indian

flautist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

(

Bansuri A bansuri is an ancient side-blown bamboo flute originating from the Indian Subcontinent. It is an aerophone produced from bamboo and metal-like material, used in many Indian and Nepali Lok songs. A ''bansuri'' is traditionally made from a ...

player) in the

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

tradition.

Early life

Ronu Majumdar was born in

Benares Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges, Ganges river in North India, northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hinduism, Hindu world.* * * * The city ...

. His father was a homeopathic doctor, oil painter, and amateur flautist who took lessons from Pandit

Pannalal Ghosh Pandit Pannalal Ghosh (; 24 July 1911 – 20 April 1960), also known as Amal Jyoti Ghosh, was an Indian flute (bansuri) player and composer. He was a disciple of Allauddin Khan, and is credited with popularizing the flute as a concert instrument ...

, who provided him with a strong early grounding.

Awards, nominations, and music collaborations

In 1981, Ronu Majumdar won the first prize at the

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

competition, and the President's gold medal. 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 Sahara India Pariwar (''pariwar'' being Hindi for "family") is an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. The group operates business sectors such as finance, infrastructure & housing, real estate, sports, power, ma ...

felicitated him with a lifetime achievement award on the occasion of Jyoti Diwas 2001. In 2014 he won the prestigious

Sangeet Natak Akademi award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

. 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 Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitar, sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known expert of Hin ...

and Ustad

Ali Akbar Khan Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 192218 June 2009) was an Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin 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 Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, including the projects ''Carrying Hope'' ( Music Today), ''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 ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

''. He became a music producer for ''Nadi Ki Beti Sundari'' (''A Forgotten Daughter''), a Bollywood movie produced by

Nikhil Chandwani Nikhil () is a male name of Sanskrit origin. It is predominantly found in India, Nepal, and the diaspora of these countries. The name means "complete" or "whole". Notable people *Nikhil Advani, Hindi film director *Nikhil Banerjee, sitar player ...

under Walnut Discoveries Pvt. Ltd. He has arranged and conducted the 100th edition of th
Tansen Samaroh festival
in Gwalior Madhya Pradesh on 15th December 2024. It was performed by 546 musicians, the largest Hindustani classical band and has won Guinness book of world record.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Majumdar, Ronu 1965 births Indian flautists Bansuri players Musicians from Varanasi Hindustani instrumentalists Indian male classical musicians Indian classical composers Living people Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award