Kakoli Sengupta

Kakoli Sengupta is a native of Naihati, a small Bengali village near Calcutta. She has been singing as far back as she can remember. When she was 5, her mother realised that she had a special talent for song and Kakoli has focused exclusively on music since then. She studied with Sri Gopal Biswas, a remarkable teacher who helped her train her voice and soul in accordance with ancient Indian tradition. At the age of 20, she was rightly able to call herself an independent musician.

The last 29 years Kakoli has lived and worked in Paris. In spite of that, she still regards herself as an Indian singer. At least once a year, she goes back to India, where her concerts are always warmly received both by the grateful local audiences and the critics. Her exquisite skill, exciting repertoire and openness to music have enabled Kakoli to work together with a number of European artists and renowned Indian musicians. She has regularly been invited to give concerts across Europe. For a long time, Kakoli Sengupta’s chief occupation has been the teaching of Indian classical singing. Over the years she has developed a following of students including amateurs and professional musicians of a variety of origins. She is also active organising study and advanced courses in France and elsewhere.

In 1995, Kakoli participated in performing the Symphony of Human Rights dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations Organisation. Michel Garnier’s grand project uniting musicians from all over the globe was performed at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris and subsequently in a number of other cities. The concert was recorded and published on CD.

Several CDs have been published featuring Kakoli Sengupta’s songs. She has recorded traditional Indian music in its contemporary interpretation, dedicated songs, Bengali songs as well as children’s songs of her own. In the studio, she has also collaborated with a number of creative artists of the current generation (DJ Cam, Turkantam nad others).

For a long time, Kakoli Sengupta has also been a part of the movie world. In Indian Cinema Festivals in France and Italy, she has performed music to accompany silent films. Among others, her voice is appears in the feature film ”Hanuman” (1999) that screened during the 2002 Dark Nights’ Film Festival in Tallinn.