Sayan
Ghosh
Sitar & Surbahar Maestro
A musician in whose hands centuries of classical tradition breathe and evolve — carrying the Gayaki Ang from the courts of legend into the concert halls of the present world.
A Worshipper of
Sitar & Surbahar
Sayan Ghosh is a renowned Hindustani classical musician, celebrated for his mastery of both sitar and surbahar (bass sitar). Representing the prestigious Etawah–Imdadkhani Gharana — celebrated for its Gayaki Ang, the vocal style of sitar playing — Sayan has carved a singular niche in the world of classical music through a modern yet profoundly authentic approach.
Hailing from a musical family in Kolkata, his initial foray into music began with vocal training in Rabindrasangeet under his mother Smt. Nilima Ghosh's guidance. This early exposure to the lyrical beauty of Tagore's universe sparked an interest in the sitar, which he began studying formally at the age of 13 under Shri Ganesh Das — a disciple of Amiya Kanti Bhattacharyya and a grand disciple of Ustad Enayat Khan.
After Shri Ganesh Das's passing in 2012, Sayan continued his training under the legendary Ustad Shahid Parvez. Inspired by icons including Ustad Vilayat Khan and Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee, he embraced the deep traditions of his gharana while evolving a voice entirely his own.
Rooted in the
Guru–Shishya Tradition
Sayan's musical journey began not with the sitar but with the voice — an inheritance from his mother's world of Rabindrasangeet that would later inform everything in his instrumental style. When he took up the sitar at thirteen, it was with the ear of a vocalist already attuned to the nuances of melody and emotional inflection.
His formal training under Shri Ganesh Das laid a rigorous foundation in the Etawah tradition. After Shri Ganesh Das's passing in 2012, Sayan's journey continued under Ustad Shahid Parvez — one of the most celebrated sitarists of our time — deepening his mastery of the Gayaki Ang approach that defines the gharana.
The influence of legendary vocalists — Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Abdul Karim Khan, and Ajoy Chakraborty — permeates Sayan's playing, lending it a singularity of expression rarely encountered in instrumental music. Their singing lives in his strings.
Explore the Gharana →
Innovations on
Ancient Strings
"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high — where knowledge is free."
Where Two
Great Traditions Meet
The "Tagore on Sitar" project is perhaps Sayan's most celebrated creative endeavour — a technically formidable and emotionally transcendent effort to translate the compositions of Rabindranath Tagore onto the frets and strings of the sitar.
Rabindra Sangeet, with its complex melodic structures rooted in raaga but reshaped by Tagore's poetic imagination, presents extraordinary challenges for a fret instrument. Sayan navigates this terrain with both scholarship and intuition, finding the emotional truth of each composition.
Since 2022, Sayan has been teaching this unique fusion to his students — ensuring the project lives not only in recordings but in the hands of the next generation of musicians who will carry it further.
Listen on YouTube →Stages Across
India & the World
Sayan Ghosh has performed in over 100 concerts across India and abroad, representing the Etawah–Imdadkhani Gharana at classical festivals, spiritual gatherings, royal events, and international cultural summits.
Shared Stages,
Singular Moments
The Academy —
A Living Tradition
Founded in 2017 in Kolkata, the Sayan Ghosh Academy offers deeply personalised sitar education rooted in tradition yet open to the needs of modern learners. The academy currently operates two physical branches — in Dunlop and Konnagar — providing one-on-one mentorship in the warm spirit of the guru-shishya paramparā.
Learners range in age from 3 to 80, reflecting Sayan's belief that classical music belongs to everyone who approaches it with sincerity. In addition to in-person instruction, the academy offers global online classes connecting students across nine countries to this living tradition.
Sayan's teaching transmits not just technique but the philosophy behind the music — an understanding of raaga as emotional truth, of rhythm as conversation, of performance as an act of devotion to a lineage older than any individual voice.
Join the Academy →Achievements Beyond
the Stage
"Music has a poetry of its own,
and that poetry is called melody."
Sayan Ghosh
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