Profil
Debashish was born in 1975 in Calcutta, India, and studied in India, the USA, Singapore, the Czech Republic and Italy. He is said to have shown great sensitivity to sound as an infant and his association with music began at age 7 with the violin and his first concert was within 6 months. His musical education was not in one place nor with one instrument and he played though his teen years in rock and roll bands on guitar and bass completely self taught. His absolute pitch abilities and love for the working of instruments led him to try several instruments over the course of time including the trumpet, the bassoon, accordion , double bass as well as the piano. Its his own discovery of the wide spectrum of sound in classical music that led him to train formally and specialize in this field. . At 19, fresh after his A-levels with no musical qualifications at all, but only because of pure experience and abilities , he was appointed Music head in St. James´ School, Calcutta, where he worked on developing the music curriculum, conducted their four choirs, and organized public musical productions as well as pursuing his own musical education over the next 5 years .His work there included composing and conducting the original musical production ‘Pins and Needles’. After gaining experience in the school, he founded the St.Jame' School Orchestra, and, while working full-time, completed the Associate Music TCL diploma from Trinity College completely self-taught. Drawn all the more to arranging, composing and conducting, Debashish was selected to participate in a course in the Czech Republic on Conducting. There he trained with conductors of the Knoxville Symphony in the USA, the Hong Kong Sinfonetta, the South Bend Symphony, the University Orchestra in Basel, Switzerland and the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic,Zlin , Czech Republic. On his return to India he took up the post of Resident Conductor in the Calcutta Foundation Orchestra. and at the same time, he became director of the „Funtastiques" Jazz Choral group, and also established the Calcutta School of Music Chamber Orchestra.
In 2000, Debashish returned to the Czech Republic to further his studies in Orchestral Conducting and deepen his relationship to European classical music. As the first Indian ever, he joined the Prague Conservatoire and began taking lessons with Maestro Hynek Farkač and Jan Kasal. After completion of his studies there, he continues to live in Prague and enjoys a close relationship with Czech Maestro Libor Pešek .
Debashish actively participated in the Conducting masterclasses at the Chigiana Academy,Siena,Italy both in 2003( 2 sessions ) and 2004 ( 2 sessions ) with Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti.There he was awarded two scholarships and conducted the Sofia Festival Orchestra in concert both years. In 2004 he served as guest conductor for the Bohuslav Martinu Chamber Orchestra., and later that year , Debashish was awarded the Honour Diploma after winning the 26th Masterplayers International Conducting competition in Switzerland.He was the first Indian ever to be among the finalists from 42 countries in the 49th Besancon Conducting Competition in 2005.
In 2006 , he made recordings for the Czech radio which included the premiere of Southern Czech Composer Jiri Churacek's Trombone Concerto as well as Mozart's 28th Symphony ( k.200 ). In 2006 , he also conducted the Imperial College Sinfonietta in concerts while they toured the Czech Republic. In the season 2006 -2007 , in addition to being the Guest Conductor of the Plzen Philharmonic, he also was invited to conduct all Regional concerts with the Orchestra as well.
In 2007 he conducted Prague's first ever Colours of Asia concert where he himself programmed music for the symphonic orchestra inspired by Asian countries such as the Prague Premiere of Liu Tieshan's Dance of the Yao People , Goldmark's Sakuntala and Neilsen's Aladdin Suite as well as operatic arias. This was done under the auspices of the City of Prague as well as the embassies of India, Japan, China ,the Philippines, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka in a first of its kind event. He was also invited to conduct the gala concert marking the 10th Anniversary of Panasonic industries in the Czech Republic with eminent violinist Jaroslav Svěceny .
In 2007 he stepped in on less than a weeks notice to conduct the Czech Premiere of Michael Jarrell's Trei-II with the Prague Chamber Philharmonic
His interest in charitable causes led him to start an annual concert tradition for the benefit of the visually handicapped with the Lions club of the Czech and Slovak Republics from 2006. Being an Indian himself, he knows well that India has one of the world's highest number of blind people in th world and these concerts are now in t their 4th season and are critically acclaimed. He was awarded the Governor's Flag to honor his contribution to these musical events.
In 2009 , Germany marks its first such concert with Debashish conducting Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano concerto, along with Dvořák's New World Symphony , Smetana's Vltava and Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture in Bavaria.
He also likes to be associated with the propagation of Fair Trade items and outreach concerts for children and new audiences.
He currently lives in Prague and cooperates on various concerts and recordings principally with the Plzen Philharmonic Orchestra. He is married to the brilliant young Czech pianist Jana Tumova ( Chaudhuri ) , his brother Rajat , is a successful painter and lives in Denver , USA with his wife and daughter while his parents live in Calcutta , India