Born in Kolkata, Sebanti Chatterjee, the author of an amazing literary piece called ‘Choral Voices’, completed her primary education, her bachelor’s and master’s degree in Sociology followed by an MPhil certified course in Kolkata at the Presidency College affiliated to the Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Further, she pursued her PhD in Social Sciences at the University of Delhi. “As a child, I was never part of any choir. I joined the Goa University Choir in Goa as it was needed to be done for a subject I was pursuing, ‘participant observation’, in Sociology studies. It was for the first time ever that I had been part of a choir in my life,” says Sebanti Chatterjee.
The choir was conducted by Maestro Santiago Lusardi Girelli. Sebanti always wanted to turn education and research into something that was fun and exciting. She enjoyed music as a child and even learnt to play the guitar when she was in class 8. Sebanti also loves dancing and has learnt several Indian classical dance forms like Kathak. “Born in a typical Indian family, every child has to learn something like this and so did I. I love learning, but studying something to procure a certificate was never my cup of tea and this would stress me out,” she says. “There is a lot of will to learn classical guitar amidst the children in Kolkata but we do not have any local inspirational figures from the area and hence look up to foreign artists like John William of José Antonio Escobar, as our role models,” she adds. Further, Sebanti says that all of this got her interested in western classical music when she questioned herself, “Could I study western classical music in context with sociology?”
While Sebanti was pursuing her under graduation studies, one of her professors had once casually mentioned to her about a book by Max Weber called ‘The rational and social foundations of music’ where classic sociologists had actually studied western classical music through sociological lenses. “A very good example is a writing of Norbert Elias which speaks about Mozart as a figure to study and understand court patronage,” says Sebanti.
Further, Sebanti mentions, “My parents have studied Indian classical music but are not musicians professionally. They have always been very supportive in my venture to study and understand western classical music as all of us admire all forms of music.”
Having been part of the Goa University Choir, Sebanti says it’s her favorite choir as she knows how it functioned. In Meghalaya, the Presbyterians and Baptists have their own councils independent of the Vatican. It’s really interesting to see how classical singing has shaped the contemporary singing there. “I feel that the church plays a major role in introducing western classical music to children. However different people may have different preferences as far as traditional and modern singing is concerned. Every member of a choir may not be as much excited to sing a classical piece, since these take a lot of time and effort. While in Goa we have the Archdiocese managing sacred music which is still more towards the traditional side, in Meghalaya the music is more contemporary,” says Sebanti.
“Each vernacular agency shapes and adds meaning to a musical form that has come to them through valuable colonial influences. Based on the style of music, instruments used, language and its dialect one may be able to say something about the place of its origin. However, in today’s times it is difficult to say what is Indian or of a particular state, because people live with multiple identities,” says Sebanti.
“Come together, develop your own form of music in the area which interests you and carry ahead both the new, hand in hand with the old into the generations to come,” exclaims Sebanti Chatterjee.