Mita Nag Biography 
Mita Nag is a well-known sitarist and musician from West Bengal. She is the daughter of veteran sitarist, Pandit Manilal Nag and granddaughter of Sangeetacharya Gokul Nag. She follows 300-year old Vishnupur Gharana of Bengal as a percussionist. Mita belongs to a family with strong musical tradition and she is the sixth generation sitar player in her family. She has received several awards and accolades including Jadubhatta Award at Salt Lake Music Conference, Ranadhir Roy Smriti Samman from Viswabharati Shantiniketan, Best Kalakar, Bharatiya Sanskriti Samsad from Kolkata in 1997 and many more. Mita founded The Gokul Nag Memorial Foundation in the fond memory of her grandfather to promote and preserve Hindustani music.
Mita Nag was born in West Bengal on 2 January 1969. Born into a musical family with 6 generations of sitar tradition, she also followed the same suit. She was initiated into music at the age of four, and started formal studies from her father Pandit Manilal Nag at the age of 6. Started with a small sitar, Mita began her early training under the guidance of her mother who was also a disciple of Gokul Nag. Later she was trained by her father. She made her first public performance in 1979 at the age of 10. She completed Masters in English Literature and an M.Phil. in English from University of Kolkata.
She has performed in almost all major music festivals and cultural events of India. Currently she is also associated with The Gokul Nag Memorial Foundation, started by her, where workshops and seminars are regularly conducted, apart from giving platform for youngsters to perform on stage. It was inaugurated in 2002. Her Gharana follows the Dhrupad style of song and the instrumental recital, and imitates the dhrupad style in the Alap phase.
Published: September 26, 2018
Updated: September 26, 2018
