Debojyoti Mishra: The Music Man Wields Magic

By Sanchali Basu

HOUSTON: Houstonians will have the pleasure and honor of experiencing music director Debojyoti Mishra’s compositions at the upcoming North American Bengali Conference (NABC) to be held at the George Brown Convention center from July 10-12. In the initial planning stages, the cultural and executive committees were overjoyed to know that he had agreed to be the director of not only the opening ceremony, but also the closing ceremony of this annual convention which attracts Bengalis from all over the year for a fun filled weekend of arts, culture and entertainment. The opening ceremony is being co-directed by the ever-lively, energetic Tanusree Shankar, who he considers to be like his Guru. He added it would not be the same without her.

Debojyoti was fortunate to start his career as the legendary music composer Salil Chowdhury’s chief assistant for 14 long years, and befittingly, the closing ceremony will pay tribute to him. He also played the violin for Satyajit Ray’s movies. He has composed more than 500 ad jingles and many of his songs have become very popular in Bengal for his accurate, controlled use of instruments and the voice. He particularly thanked the role that Rituparno Ghosh and Suman Mukhopadhyay played in his musical journey.

This is his first NABC involvement and he is nothing but praise for the Houston team that he is working with. It came as a pleasant surprise to him that this experience has been so fulfilling and has outlived all his expectations. He selected the singers through an audition process and saw them bloom and flourish under his able, disciplined guidance.

The choir has been rehearsing over the past few months and he believes that some of the singers could have made it their profession and toured the world and sing at an international level. He showed special appreciation for Shyama Mishra, who was at the helm of the choir during his absence. She took it upon herself to assist him by coordinating, energizing and communicating with the entire group. Shamik Bose and Sudipta Datta were also commended for their excellent rendition of, “Aajaan aamaar.”

He quoted, “Never in my life have I seen such a lively, vibrant, enthusiastic professional group of singers who are not actually getting paid at the end of the day.” He was also inspired by the theater group led by Manas Saha and Rahul Chakrabarti and treasured the interactions and synchronicity of mental wavelength.

Raja Banga got the ball rolling to get Debojyoti to take charge and there has been no turning back ever since. Tapan Das with his excellent communication skills kept the communication going and the culmination will be a harmonious fruition of drama, song and dance.

Debojyoti has worked with the French, Italian and Prague operas, as a music composer, but working with the local Houston team as a unit has been more rewarding, rejuvenating and energizing. He promised that he will always be there for his entire team and he wants to motivate each and everyone on his team to pursue the passion for singing and take leadership roles as professionals. He wants their journey to begin on the brightest note.

For further details please visit www.nabc2015.org