Draft:Ali F.M Razwan

Sangeet Acharya Dr. Ali F.M Razwan is an Indian classical musician in the Hindustani tradition. He belongs to the Gwalior-Jaipur-Agra Gharana.

He is the only non-Indian who received the "Sangeet Acharya" degree. Dr. Razwan Ali's style of rendition has conspicuous influence of the strong sides including laya, chhanda, bolbaat, boltan, and layakari of Gwalior |Gwalior Gharana and also Binkari alap.(1)

Early Life
He is the sixth child of A.B. Lutfi Ali. Razwan Ali Was born in 6th February 1963. At the age of fifteen, he took music lessons from Bholanath Bhattacharya of Magura Shilpakala Academy. Later, until 1983, he was a student of Professor Chandi Prashad Chatarjee. From 1984 to 1988, his teacher was Ustad Abdul Bari Khan – at the same time, he was taking lessons in Nazrul Sangeet from Bulbul Lalitokola Academy.He received the ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) scholarship in 1988 and went to Maharaja Sayajirao University, India for Bachelors and Masters. There, he took training in Gwalior Gharana (houses or family styles) classical music from renowned musicians like Pandit Shikantha Garage, Pandit Anilbhai Vaishnav, Pandit Ishwarbhai Yadav and Pandit Dwarakanath Bhosle. He also took training in Jaipur Gharana from Shubhada Desai and Kirana Gharana from Pandit Lakshmikant Pyarelal Bapat. He had the opportunity to learn Nauhar bani (stylistic variants) Dhrupad Sangeet from Pandit Harishchandra Chaturvedi. Again, during his research in Mumbai to took training from Pandit VR Athwale and Pandit |Pandit Arun Kashalkar in Gwalior-Jaipaur Gharana. Most importantly, the style he follows as a classical artiste, his seven-year training from Pandit Narayan Patwardhan Rao of progressive Gwalior Gharana, and training from Kalpana Bhattacharya.(2)

Dr. Rezwan Ali's style of rendition has conspicuous influence of the strong sides including laya, chhanda, bolbaat, boltan and layakari of Gwalior Gharana. Pt. Dhirendranath Chakrobarty of Magura baptized him in music. Later he took lesson from Pt. Chandiprasad Chatterjee [of Magura] and Ustad Abdul Bari Khan [of Dhaka].(3)

Education
Razwan did his Masters of Performing arts (Vocal Music) in 1993 with distinctions from MS University of Baroda. He did his bachelor of Performing Arts (Vocal Music) in 1991 with distinctions from MS university of Baroda. He did his doctorate of Philosophy in 2016 from Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Mumbai, India. The dissertation was "Diffusion and Diffraction of Raga in Bangladeshi Folk Music". His Supervisor was Pt. Sudheer H. Pote. He is conferred the title of Sangeet Acharya (equivalent to PhD degree) in vocal music from Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal, Mumbai, India. He is the first non-Indian to receive the title.(4) This is the highest academic degree one can receive in the realms of Indian Classical Music.

Professional Experience
• Assistant Professor of Classical Music (Vocal), Jagannath University, Bangladesh 2016-present

⚫ Chairman, Department of Music Jagannath University, Bangladesh 2019-2021

⚫ Senior Guru, Department of Vocal Music Chhayanaut Sangeet Vidayatan 1995-present

⚫ Visiting Scholar and Guru, Department of Classical Music Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy

Achievements
1. Gyanacharya Pt. Vishnudigambar Award 2016

2. Pt. Vinayak Rao Patwardhan Award 2016

3. Srimati Sitabai Palekar Award 2016

4. Dr. S. Jaysree Samudra Award 2016

5. Sangeetacharya G.D. Joshi Award 2016

6. Srimati Asha Bhaskar Nimme Award 2016 7. Pt. Jashwantbua Mirashee Award 2016

8. Shankar-Anant Tengshe Award 2016

9. Shammadini Satyantrabadan Certificate 1998'''

Film and others
1. Music direction on the film, "Rupantor" directed by Abu Sayeed.

2. Background music director of cartoon series, "Meena" directed by Unicef.

3. Music direction of documentary film on Sufia Kamal and Hena Das.

4. Music direction of a hundred songs under Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

Conferences and Workshops
1. Keynote Speaker, "Artistic Presentation of Khayal" workshop arranged by Bengal Foundation

2. Keynote Speaker on "The Musical Life Pt. Ravi Shankar" arranged by Shilpakala Academy, Bangladesh.

3. Keynote Speaker on "The Life of Ustad Allauddin Khan" aranged by Bangla Academy, Bangladesh.

Published Books and articles
1. “রাগ সন্দর্শন" book published by Jagannath University Publishing House

2. “দশ ঠাট-প্ৰেক্ষকাপটে রাগ- বর্গীকরণে বর্তমান বাধা", Volume 11.1, January-June 2021, Jagannath University Journal of Arts