Prateek Chaudhuri, a brilliant performer, is acclaimed as one of the most outstanding Sitar players of the country today amongst the present generation.
Prateek was born in New Delhi and he has been groomed in a musical atmosphere since his birth. His father is the World Renowned Sitar Maestro, Pandit Debu Chaudhuri, Padmabhushan Awardee. Prateek had great fortune to learn from his Dadaguru (father’s guru), Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan Sahab, the great legend of the “Senia” tradition.
He has also excelled in each stage of his education. Prateek is the recipient of the Gold Medal for his M.A. (Music), while he has also secured the first position in M.Phil (Music) examinations and is Ph.D (Music) i.e. a Doctorate from the University of Delhi.
At present, he not only performs all over the world, but also teaches as a Reader (i.e. an Associate Professor) at the Faculty of Music of the University of Delhi, India. Prateek is a unique and rare combination of an eminent performer and teacher together in one.
He has toured extensively throughout the world with his father as well as a solo artiste. These include countries like United States of America, Canada, England, France, Greece, Germany, Holland, Austria, Belgium, Japan, China, Italy, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Mexico, Morocco, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Yugoslavia (before partition), Indonesia, Venezuela , just to name a few.
Besides his innumerous performances all over the world, Prateek has also conducted several workshops and also given several lecture-demonstrations for students and
musicians in India and abroad.
Prateek has been awarded the “Pandit Nikhil Bannerjee Award” from Lucknow, “The Best Instrumentalist Award” from Delhi and the “Surmani Award” from Mumbai, amongst many other awards and recognitions. His name has also been listed amongst the prominent personalities of the World in American Biographies Intl. and Asia’s Who’s Who. His mastery over the Sitar and "Laya" (rhythm) has been acclaimed and praised by the leading musicians of the country and he has also been accompanied by almost all the leading Tabla maestros, in his recitals in India and abroad.
Prateek follows a unique tradition of playing the Sitar not only with the traditional and rare 17 frets (instead of 19,20 or 21 frets, found at present), but also having a unique string arrangement of it’s own. His skilful fingers handle rapidly moving passages with ease, while maintaining integrity and beauty of every note, the mark of a true virtuoso.
