Biography

Arup Chattopadhyay is a professional tabla player based out of the IT capital of India, Bangalore. He is recognised as one of the most outstanding tabla artists of this generation. He has established himself as a formidable soloist as well as a top-notch accompanist. Arup's performances are admired for their exceptional clarity, tonal quality and deep compositional repertoire, all presented with an innate sense of melody and rhythm. Arup began learning the tabla at the age of six from his father, the eminent tabla player, Pt Pankaj Chattopadhyay. He then came under the tutorship of the world-renowned tabla maestro, Pt Shankar Ghosh, and is one of his premier disciples. He was awarded Top-Grade by All India Radio and Television.  Arup has accompanied many of the leading musicians of India such as Ustad Rais Khan, Pt Ravi Shankar, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Ustad Aashish Khan, Pt Nayan Ghosh, Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Lakshmi Shankar, Pt Ajay Chakrabarti, Ustad Rashid Khan, Pt Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Pt Tarun Bhattacharya, the late VG Jog, Pt Kushal Das, and Pt Tejendra Narayan Majumdar among others. Since 1998, Arup has been honoured to accompany the legend, Bharat Ratna Pt Ravi Shankar, in tours throughout US, Europe, Canada, and India, including performances in Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Barbican Hall. Arup toured the UK with the late Pt Deepak Choudhury many times and with Pt Kartik Seshadri (since 1997) throughout the Canada, USA, Mexico, India, and Australia. Arup is also a highly sought-after tutor and, over the last 14 years, has been a visiting lecturer at University of California, San Diego; previously, he was a professor at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in London (Institute of Indian Culture).