Performing in Kolkata with Anoushka Shankar was ‘homecoming’: London-based musician Arun Ghosh

A British-Asian clarinettist, composer and educator, Ghosh grew up in the north of England — first in Bolton, then Manchester — before settling in London

Kolkata, February 12, 2026, dmanewsdesk: For British-Asian clarinettist, composer and educator Arun Ghosh, his debut performance in Kolkata alongside sitarist Anoushka Shankar at the Netaji Subhash Indoor Stadium earlier this week was like homecoming.

“Kolkata means so much to me, emotionally, intellectually and even spiritually,” he told My Kolkata, adding, “to be here alongside Anoushka made it all so special.”

“The love that people in Kolkata feel for her and her father (Pandit Ravi Shankar) is palpable, a tremendous thing. It was wonderful to feel that love from all around, and to be a part of this musical heritage,” Ghosh, 49, said.

“Throughout the concert, I felt that the sound and the way I played was heard, felt, and understood by the audience in Kolkata. It was so well received. I felt that in a small way, me and my music belonged to the city. I felt valued on stage – and that has meant so much to me,” the London-based clarinettist added.

Ghosh’s Instagram bio says “Conceived in Calcutta, bred in Bolton, matured in Manchester & now living in London”.

And how did these places influence his music? Ghosh said his father, who hailed from Hooghly district in West Bengal, passed on a love of Bengali music (especially Rabindrasangeet) and Indian classical music from when he was a child.

Ghosh was trained in European classical music and Jazz. He adds that he “grew up loving rock, reggae, punk, hip-hop, 60s music, drum ’n’ bass, and the music of the Manchester rave scene”.

Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Bismillah Khan were great inspirations, he recalled.

“I started to learn taals from performances on stage with tabla players and Bharatnatyam dancers. I also started to learn and perform Rabindrasangeet (I recorded O Amar Desher Mati on my debut album Northern Namaste) and developed a tremendous love of Baul music. I immediately understood that these were the sounds of my home and identity, and I started to incorporate them into my music in pieces,” he said.

“A new piece of mine is called The Hooghly Weaver… it brings all of this together, and will be released later this year,” Ghosh added.

In 2008, Ghosh was selected for the Jerwood/PRS Foundation’s Take Five initiative, which opened doors for him across the UK and Europe. A year later, he was part of the UK showcase at Germany’s jazzahead! festival, where European promoters took notice. By 2010, he had become an associate artist at The Albany Theatre in London, and in 2011 he was named an artist-in-residence at the Southbank Centre’s Alchemy Festival. That same year, Jazzwise put him on its cover.

Ghosh was one of the BT Celebrity Storytellers for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, and performed with his pan-Asian chamber orchestra, Arkestra Makara, at the BT River of Music Festival during the Cultural Olympiad. International work has taken him across Europe, India, the Middle East and China.

Awards have followed — including Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year honours at the Parliamentary Jazz UK Awards in 2014 and 2018.

Performing in India with Anoushka, and particularly in Kolkata was a great experience for Ghosh. “This feeling of closeness to home is deep, and as the UK continues to socially and ideologically fragment, I certainly yearn to return ‘home’ as a man and musician,” he told My Kolkata.

“Anoushka is a fantastic ensemble leader and composer. Her concepts and ideas of what she wants to present on stage are always so clear. She also gives us all space to express ourselves musically, and that is a sign of her very generous artistic spirit,” Ghosh signed off.

Source: The Telegraph online