Amaresh Roy Chowdhury

Amaresh Roy Chowdhury (18 September 1928 – 12 August 2025)^[2] was a Bangladeshi classical vocalist of the Indian subcontinent.^[3] He was awarded the Ekushey Padak in 2016 by the Government of Bangladesh for his contribution to classical music.^[4]

Amaresh Roy Chowdhury অমরেশ রায় চৌধুরী
Chowdhury during an award ceremony in Narayanganj
Background information
Born	(1928-09-18)18 September 1928 Faridpur, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died	12 August 2025(2025-08-12) (aged 96)[1] Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Instrument	Vocalist
Spouse	Sonali Roy Chowdhury

Early life

Amaresh Roy Chowdhury was born in the village of Chouddoroshi in the district of Faridpur within the presidencies and provinces of British India on 18 September 1928 to Avinash Roy Chowdhury and Rajlakshmi Roy Chowdhury. They belonged to the family of Roy Bahadur Mahendra Narayan Roy Chowdhury of Faridpur.^{[citation needed]} He moved to Rajshahi after the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971, and has been living there with his wife Sonali Roy Chowdhury and family since then.^{[citation needed]}

When he was in fifth grade, he started learning classical music. He started training from Pandit Sudhir Lal Chakrabarty, a famous music composer from the subcontinent. After his sudden death, Amaresh went to Harihar Shukla, another famous musician from Sirajganj, father of the famous Indian singer Haimanti Sukla, for vocal training. Afterward, he received training Dhrupada, Khayal and Thumri from Sangeetacharya Tarapada Chakraborty. He also learned modern songs and raagas from composer Nikhil Chandra Sen, and received vocal training from Manas Chakroborty. After passing his matriculation in 1945, he continued learning and practicing classical music.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Chowdhury has taught music at Shilpashram Lalitkala Academy in Rajshashi.^[5]

Chowdhury noted down the tunes of the songs by Kazi Nazrul Islam from their original records and preserved them in notations.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Chowdhury was married to Sonali Roy Chowdhury, who passed away in 2022.^[6]

Awards

• Sanket Sangskritik Goshthi Award (1981)
• Ustad Gul Mohammad Memorial Award by Sangeet Academy (1982)
• Gunijan Sammanona by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (1997)
• "Pandit" Title given by Noborupi, Dinajpur(2000).
• National Leader Shaheed “AHM Kamaruzzaman Sammanona Smarok” (2010)
• "Rabindra Padak"” by Jatiya Rabindra Sangeet Sammilan Parishad (2014)
• Shilpakala Padak by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (2014)
• Ekushey Padak (2016)