Ronu Majumdar

Ronu Majumdar
Ronu Mujumdar performing in Pune
Background information
Occupation(s)	Flute player
Instruments	Flute
Notable instruments
Bamboo flute (bansuri)

Ronu Majumdar is a noted Indian flautist in the Hindustani classical music tradition.

Majumdar is a style maker and has invented a unique style of flute playing and rendering the raga, which is a mixture of 'Drupad Gayaki' with 'Laykari'.

Majumdar is credited with popularizing the Indian flute (bansuri) amongst the younger generation all over the world. Many young and upcoming flute players are following his style.

As another milestone for Majumdar, for the first time ever, Android has developed a dedicated app for listeners to enjoy his music.

Born in Varanasi on July 28, 1965, Ranendranath Majumdar, popularly known as Ronu, was trained under his father, Dr. Bhanu Majumdar, and later learned vocal music with the late Pt. Laxman Prasad Jaipurwale at whose behest he reverted to the flute. Pandit Vijay Raghav Rao, a music scholar, groomed Ronu into a concert flautist. He was also fortunate to receive training from his grand guru Pt. Ravi Shankar.

Majumdar displays a pure Maiher gharana style in the rendition of the raga and is a force to reckon with in the realm of Indian classical music both as a thinking musician and scintillating performer.

A powerhouse performer, Ronu Majumdar is firmly rooted in the Maihar gharana which has also given shape to sturdy musical oaks like Pt. Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. He has received numerous remarkable accolades for his performances worldwide.

The bansuri flute was brought into the fold of Hindustani classical music barely half a century ago by Pt Pannalal Ghosh, before which it was considered as a folk instrument. Ronu's speciality is the "Shank Bansuri", a 3-foot-long flute (0.91 m) of his own design, which adds an extra dimension at the lower scales.

In 1981, Ronu Majumdar won the first prize at the All India Radio competition, and the President's Gold Medal.

In 1996, Ronu received a Grammy nomination for his work on the album Tabula Rasa with Bela Fleck, the American banjo virtuoso. He has associated with Pandit Ravi Shankar on albums like Passages and Chants of India. He has more than 30 audio releases to his credit. He won the prestigious Aditya Vikram Birla Award in 1999 for his dedication to music. Sahara India Pariwar felicitated him with a lifetime achievement award on the occasion of Jyoti Diwas 2001. In 2014 he won the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi award.