Classical musician Pandit Amaresh Roy no more

Pandit Amaresh Roy Chowdhury, a highly esteemed classical musician in the subcontinent, has passed away at the age of 97.

He died at his residence in the Ranibazar area of Rajshahi at 9:30am on Tuesday. His cremation took place later that afternoon at the Ponchoboti Crematorium in Rajshahi. The veteran musician was survived by two sons.

Born in 1928 in Faridpur, Pandit Amaresh received his classical music training from legendary artistes such as Sudhir Lal Chakrabarty, Harihar Shukla, and Tarapada Chakrabarty.

Additionally, he studied Adhunik songs, Atulprasad’s compositions, Nazrul Sangeet, and Shyama Sangeet from the notable artiste and composer Nikhil Chandra Sen in Netrakona.

Throughout his illustrious career, Amaresh Roy was honoured with several prestigious awards, including the Sanket Sangskritik Goshthi award in 1981, the Ustad Gul Mohammad Memorial Award from Sangeet Academy, Dhaka in 1982, the Gunijan Sammanona by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in 1997, the National Leader Shaheed AHM Kamaruzzaman Sammanona Smarok on Victory Day in 2010, and the Rabindra Padak by Jatiya Rabindra Sangeet Sammilan Parishad in 2014.

He served as a special grade classical vocalist at Bangladesh Betar (Rajshahi Centre) and Bangladesh Television.

Additionally, he released an audio cassette featuring classical music and was teaching music at Shilpashram Lalitkala Academy in Rajshahi. He also founded a music institution called Sangeetashram.