Norwood Hosts Maitreyee Chakraborty Concert Of Indian Music

NORWOOD, MA - As the world emerges from the pandemic, Indian vocalist Maitreyee Chakraborty has found increased meaning in the works of her inspiration, Indian icon Rabindranath Tagore. The late 19th century polymath from Bengal wrote about light overcoming darkness, both physically and emotionally.

To spread his message to a wider audience, Chakraborty will be performing some of his musical works that she translated into English on Saturday, November 13 from 5:30-6:45 p.m. at the Norwood Historical Society at 93 Day St. in a special evening performance entitled "Where, O Where is Light? - From Darkness to Light with Rabindranath Tagore's Compositions."

"I've performed quite a few times in Norwood, and I am excited to perform here because of its diversity," she said in an interview Monday. "Norwood has always been very responsive and also accepting and appreciative - all of those three things - of diverse cultures."

The event is being cosponsored by the Norwood Historical Society as well as the Morrill Memorial Library. In addition, grant funding was provided by the Norwood, Canton and Walpole Cultural Councils.

Chakraborty is a native of West Bengal and speaks Bengali. She grew up in Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, where she began singing when she was five years old. She came from a family of singers and studied professionally for a decade.

"It's one of those things in Bengal that you have to at least try to sing," she said with a laugh. The recording artist began performing at age 17 and has since been featured on television and radio.

After she moved to the United States at age 20, Chakraborty earned a master's degree in English. She previously lived in Los Angeles before settling in New England in 2016.

Chakraborty was heavily influenced by the musical and written works of Tagore. He was a poet, novelist, essayist and painter who wrote and composed more than 2,500 songs. He also wrote numerous plays, short stories and essays, established a university in India, and traveled around the world.

"He is revered in Bengal and in India," Chakraborty explained. "In Bengal, we would say that any emotions you experience, Tagore wrote about it. All the different shades of love, spiritualization, social justice and women's rights. He was such a forward-thinking man, and his work is certainly relevant to this time."

However, she said he has been "largely forgotten in the West" despite being acclaimed during his life.

"That is my passion," she stressed regarding sharing Tagore's work. "Anyone who knows Tagore has fallen deeply in love with him. That is why I do this hard work of translating him.

"The more you mature, you can interpret his works differently," Chakraborty continued. "There are a lot of subtexts in the writing. There is a certain ambiguity that makes it so rich."

Music has been Chakraborty's "life force," she explained. COVID-19 has totally disrupted her industry, causing her to feel "a little helpless and hopeless" when she originally wrote the grant for the show. She had experienced several deaths in her family during the pandemic.

"I would watch the news and feel such darkness," Chakraborty noted. "But Tagore wrote some beautiful songs about light. And it's not just a physical light - it's a light of realization, an internal light that wakes us up and makes us seek knowledge."

The performance will feature a sarangi, an ancient instrument which she said "mimics the human voice." It will be played by Suhail Yusuf Khan, an eight-generation sarangi player and the only one she knows of in the country. Monami Roy will accompany them on a harmonium. Rev. Anne Mason of Lexington's First Parish Church will perform the readings, and the English translation will scroll on a screen during the songs. Discussion and context for each song will be provided.

Chakraborty glowed as she spoke about being able to sing in front of a live audience after the isolation of the past 18 months, which she called "a nightmare for performers." She has missed the personal connection with concertgoers on which musicians thrive.

"I did a lot of concerts digitally, but it's not the same," she said. "You're looking at yourself when you're singing, and it's like you're singing in front of a mirror. The screens seemed like cages."

She added that the sound quality wasn't good because it was compressed.

"When you are performing with several people, it sounds cacophonous," Chakraborty said.

Chakraborty said she recently performed in Newton, where the excitement was palpable. She hopes to generate similar enthusiasm in Norwood and beyond.

"People were screaming in the audience," she said excitedly, noting that she was finally able to see people's reactions and body language. "It was such a rush, and it felt so good to be normalized. People are hungering for in-person events."

Although registration for the event is full, there is a waiting list. For more information, go to the library's link.