Hindustani classical · 1980s–present
Mita Nag
A sixth-generation sitarist of the Bishnupur gharana of Bengal.
- Instrument
- Sitar
- Gharana
- Bishnupur (Vishnupur) gharana
Official website & social links
Mita Nag's own pages elsewhere on the web.
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Where to start
Begin listening
Raag Suha Kanada — filmed at Singur, West Bengal
Suha Kanada · 10:57 · darbarfestival
Excerpt published by Darbar Festival, filmed on location at Singur, West Bengal; the full performance is on Darbar's own subscription player. Labelled here as an excerpt.
Watch on YouTubeUploaded 2021-06-21
Raag Bhimpalasi — Milap "Music for the Mind & Soul" studio recording
Bhimpalasi · Tabla: Rimpa Siva · 40:51 · Milap
Studio recording made for Milap's "Music for the Mind & Soul" series; a sitar and tabla duo with Rimpa Siva, who also has a profile in the archive.
Watch on YouTubeUploaded 2021-05-29
Raga Yaman — with Uday Kumar on tabla
Yaman · Tabla: Uday Kumar · 43:46 · Mita Nag
Published on the artist's own channel. The upload carries no description, so only the title's information is recorded; no performance date.
Watch on YouTubeUploaded 2020-07-03
Recordings are embedded from official or authorised channels and never rehosted. Nothing plays on its own, and starting one closes another. Where an editor has added a note, it explains why that recording was chosen — not what happens inside it.
Biography
Life
Mita Nag is the daughter and disciple of Pandit Manilal Nag and the granddaughter of Sangeetacharya Gokul Nag. Her family's line of musicians in Bankura runs back six generations, to the early days of the Bishnupur school; she began learning the sitar at about four and a half, first from her mother and at her grandfather's urging, and later studied solely with her father.
She holds a Master's degree in English Literature, and in 2002 founded the Gokul Nag Memorial Foundation, a Kolkata organisation devoted to preserving the city's musical heritage. She performs in India and abroad, appearing at the Darbar Festival in 2015 accompanied by the tabla player Satyajit Talwalkar, and continues to teach and present the Bishnupur repertoire.
Musical contribution
What they brought to music
The Bishnupur gharana grew out of the dhrupad singing of the Bishnupur court, and Mita Nag's playing keeps that influence audible in the alap, where the instrument follows the shape of a sung phrase before the rhythmic sections begin. Commentators describe her approach as combining that vocal quality with considerable technical command.
Lineage & company
Teachers, students and musical connections
In the documented teaching trees
Where the archive's lineage research places Mita Nag, and the teaching links recorded around them inside each tree.
Daughter and disciple of Manilal Nag.
People
Grouped by the kind of relationship the sources record — who taught this musician, who they taught, family, and the people they played with.
Family
Pandit Manilal NagFather and guruHer sole teacher after her earliest lessons.
Mita Nag — official website- Sangeetacharya Gokul NagGrandfather
Urged her initiation into sitar playing; she founded the Gokul Nag Memorial Foundation in 2002.
Mita Nag — Darbar
Community
Memories from the community
Personal recollections, not verified history
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Provenance
Sources and image credits
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