Subhra Guha (born 1956) is a vocalist 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 from the Agra gharana style of singing. Her repertoire covers

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 ...

thumri Thumri () is a vocal genre or style of Indian music. The term "thumri" is derived from the Hindi verb ''thumuknaa'', which means "to walk with a dancing gait in such a way that the ankle-bells tinkle." The form is, thus, connected with dance, dram ...

and

dadra Dadra is associated with the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent. Dadra tala This is a Hindustani classical '' tala'' (rhythmic cycle), consisting of six beats in two equal divisions of three. The most commonly accepted theka ...

Biography

Subhra Guha was born in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

in 1956. Her family encouraged her to pursue Hindustani classical music, as she showed talent in music from a young age. Initially, she learnt music under Satish Bhowmick. From 1970, she trained in singing in Agra gharana style under Sunil Bose. From 1982, for ten years, she was a student at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata where she was taught by K. G. Ginde and Bhowmick. She learned thumri rendition from Dhruvatara Joshi. In spite of the macho nature of the Agra gharana style of music, with her own sense of ''layakari'' (rhythmic play) and strong tone, she became proficient by creating her own style of gayaki under the guidance of Vijay Kichlu, director of the academy. She joined the academy as guru and taught between 1992 and 2003 and again in recent years. She is the only woman student of the Academy to be appointed as a guru in the same institution. Guha has performed in many concerts nationally and also in the US, Europe, and Asia. She has recorded albums for

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

and many other recording companies. She recorded playback music for

Goutam Ghose Goutam Ghose (also spelled Gautam Ghosh; born 24 July 1950) is an Indian film director, actor, music director and cinematographer who works primarily in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. He is the only Indian to have received the "Vittorio ...

s film, ''

Yatra ''Yatra'' (, ), in Indian religion, Indian-origin religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, generally means a pilgrimage to holy places such as confluences of River#Sacred rivers, sacred rivers, Sacred mountains#India, sacred mount ...

''. She performs regularly on

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 ...

and

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

. She is also known for her Poorab Ang renditions of thumri.

Awards

In 2015, Guha received the Girija Shankar Smriti Puruskar award from the

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, is the Administrative division, principal administrative authority of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal, created by the Constitution ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guha, Subhra 1956 births Hindustani singers Indian women classical singers Singers from Kolkata Living people Women Hindustani musicians 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian women singers 20th-century Khyal singers Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award