About the artist

Prof. Sisirkana Dhar Choudhury is distinguished violinist throughout India and abroad. She had her first lesson on the violin and vocal music from Ustad Moti Mian when she was seven years old. Later she received systematic training from renowned violinist Padmabhushan V G Jog from 1952 onwards. Impressed with her talent, Swar Samrat Ali Akbar Khan Sahib accepted her as his pupil in 1956.
Few years later, she received musical lessons for a short period from the rarely gifted musician Smt. Annapurna Devi, the worthy daughter of Acharya Baba Allauddin Khan Sahib, Maihar. Pandit Ravi Shankar also spared some few hours from his very busy schedule for imparting lessons to Sisirkana.
She started her performing career in Calcutta since 1953. She received talim in Dhrupad and Dhamar from Swar Samrat Ali Akbar Khan Sahib and from renowned musician-scholar Sri Birendra Kishore Roychowdhury, Calcutta around 1960 who have also imparted lessons on musicology. She also received training on musicology from the scholar-musician Acharya T L Rana, Calcutta around 1973.
She received the prestigious Sangeet Natak Academy award in 1997.
She plays both violin and viola, and has added a fifth melody string, and several resonating strings, to each. In concert she often plays the alaap (Dhrupad style) on the viola, then switches to the violin.
She is author of the book “The Origin and Evolution of Violin as a Musical Instrument And Its Contribution to the Progressive Flow of Indian Classical Music ”
Few years later, she received musical lessons for a short period from the rarely gifted musician Smt. Annapurna Devi, the worthy daughter of Acharya Baba Allauddin Khan Sahib, Maihar. Pandit Ravi Shankar also spared some few hours from his very busy schedule for imparting lessons to Sisirkana.
She started her performing career in Calcutta since 1953. She received talim in Dhrupad and Dhamar from Swar Samrat Ali Akbar Khan Sahib and from renowned musician-scholar Sri Birendra Kishore Roychowdhury, Calcutta around 1960 who have also imparted lessons on musicology. She also received training on musicology from the scholar-musician Acharya T L Rana, Calcutta around 1973.
She received the prestigious Sangeet Natak Academy award in 1997.
She plays both violin and viola, and has added a fifth melody string, and several resonating strings, to each. In concert she often plays the alaap (Dhrupad style) on the viola, then switches to the violin.
She is author of the book “The Origin and Evolution of Violin as a Musical Instrument And Its Contribution to the Progressive Flow of Indian Classical Music ”