Amaresh Roy Chowdhury

Amaresh Roy Chowdhury অমরেশ রায় চৌধুরী
Chowdhury during an award ceremony in Narayanganj
Background information
Born	(1928-09-18) 18 September 1928 Faridpur, Bengal Presidency, British India
Instrument(s)	Vocalist
Spouse(s)	Sonali Roy Chowdhury

Amaresh Roy Chowdhury (born 18 September 1928) is a Bangladeshi classical vocalist of the Indian sub-continent. He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2016 by the Government of Bangladesh for his contribution to classical music.

Early life

Amaresh Roy Chowdhury was born in the village of Chouddoroshi in the district of Faridpur of the presidencies and provinces of British India on 18 September 1928 to Avinash Roy Chowdhury and Rajlakshmi Roy Chowdhury. They belonged to the family of Roy Bahadur Mahendra Narayan Roy Chowdhury of Faridpur. He moved to Rajshahi after the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971, and has been living there with his wife Sonali Roy Chowdhury and family since then.

When he was in fifth grade, he started learning classical music. He started training from Pandit Sudhir Lal Chakrabarty, a famous music composer of the subcontinent. After his sudden death, Amaresh went to Harihar Shukla, another famous musician from Sirajganj, father of the famous Indian singer Haimanti Sukla, for vocal training. Afterwards he received training on Dhrupada, Khayal and Thumri from Sangeetacharya Tarapada Chakraborty. He also learned modern songs and raagas from composer Nikhil Chandra Sen, and received vocal training from Manas Chakroborty. After passing his matriculation in 1945, he continued learning and practicing classical music.

Career

Chowdhury has taught music at Shilpashram Lalitkala Academy in Rajshshi.

Chowdhury noted down the tunes of the songs by Kazi Nazrul Islam from their original records and preserved them in notations.

Personal life

Chowdhury was married to Sonali Roy Chowdhury (d. 2022).

Awards

• Sanket Sangskritik Goshthi Award (1981)
• Ustad Gul Mohammad Memorial Award by Sangeet Academy (1982)
• Gunijan Sammanona by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (1997)
• "Pandit" Title given by Noborupi, Dinajpur(2000).
• National Leader Shaheed “AHM Kamaruzzaman Sammanona Smarok” (2010)
• "Rabindra Padak"” by Jatiya Rabindra Sangeet Sammilan Parishad (2014)
• Shilpakala Padak by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (2014)
• Ekushey Padak (2016)