Guwahati: Nishaant Singh, son of veteran ‘ShreeMaadal Aacharya’ Padma Shri Kaajee Singh, from Kalimpong will be joining the Ali Akbar College of Music in the United States after receiving the Fulbright-Nehru Academic & Professional Excellence Award.
He will be doing his research under the guidance of Guru Padma Shri Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, Director of Percussion at the institute.
A disciple of Pandit Chanchal Kumar Bhattacharya, Nishaant Singh is considered the most promising Pakhawaj player in the region and a torchbearer of Lala Keval Kishan Gharana- Bengal Parampara in this present generation.
“I had been trying really hard to get this fellowship since 2017. I got to know about it long time ago when I was in school – Tashi Namgyal Academy in Gangtok, Sikkim. There was a Fulbrighter who had visited our school and held a counselling session,” Nishaant Singh told EastMojo.
When Singh landed in Kolkata, he had thought there would be a Fulbright office there. It took him awhile to find the office but he did find it in 2016. Singh met the officer-in-charge who suggested he apply for the Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowships. The fellowship, he realised, was perfect for anyone who was willing to pursue knowledge in higher musical studies.
Talking about the hard work that was put into applying for the fellowship, Singh said, “It took me a long time to understand the methodology of Fulbright. I worked hard and wrote an effective synopsis on ‘The unrevealed relationship between the Pakhawaj Parampara of Bengal and the Lucknow Gharana Tabla’. I submitted in the year 2018. The BOS liked my topic and appreciated the hard work behind it. I was then selected and received the award in 2019. I was supposed to visit in the year 2020-21, but unfortunately, it was not possible due to the covid situation.”
Nishaant is the youngest Flex Award winner in the field of Indian classical music instrument Pakhawaj to date and has joined the Ali Akbar College of Music for his research in Pakhawaj under the guidance of Padma Shri Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri.
“Now, the Fulbright claims that I am the youngest fellowship holder to receive the Flex Award in India till date. This was a moment of victory and I am the lucky one to be successful after these many years of hard work. I am enjoying it to the fullest,” the Pakhawaj player said.
The Fulbright Fellowship Program, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946, is considered to be one of the most widely recognized and prestigious fellowships in the world.
Nishaant Singh is currently a guest lecturer at the Department of Performing Arts, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira College, Kolkata and holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music with several distinctions from Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan.
Singh has represented India as a Pakhawaj player at concerts in India and abroad. His Pakhawaj has also featured in numerous background scores of Bollywood films.
An A-grade artiste of All India Radio in folk music, Singh has also been performing and conducting workshops in different universities and music institutions to create awareness about reviving ancient notations and compositions, which is one of his research interests.
Nishaant Singh wants the younger generation to understand that there is a way out in the field of Music if they take it up as a career. “If one wishes to take up music, they must pursue higher studies in the domain from international institutions,” said Singh.
During the course of his Fulbright-Nehru Research fellowship at Ali Akbar College of Music, California, he will study on the connections between the pakhawaj parampara of Bengal and the tabla gharana of Lucknow.
Singh will explore how the historic pakhawaj led to tabla wherein the former lost its rare compositions to the latter and aims to retrieve the forgotten compositions of the pakhawaj of Bengal style from the tabla of the Lucknow gharana to popularize pakhawaj, worldwide, for generations to come.
Also read: Assam girl contests for ‘Queen of the World’ title