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“ Dev Bansraj hails
from a musical family.” At a tender age
of three (3) years he began to show interest
in Indian Singing and Music. His father the
late Sonny Ramkissoon who was a versatile musician
and singer began teaching him the art of singing
and playing the harmonium. He also had the opportunity
to study vocal under the famous singer and composer
Ustad Jhagroo Kawaal.
At
the age of ten(10) Dev made his debut on Radio
Trinidad and was already performing in concerts
and winning awards and competitions. At seventeen
(17) he made a name for himself in Indian Classical
Singing by winning the Nation’s Independence
Celebration Championship Indian Singing Competition.
After completing College
in 1968, he was awarded an I.C.C.R. (Indian
Council for Cultural Relations) scholarship
to study Indian Classical Vocal and Instrumental
Music at the Bharatiya Kala Kendra (College
of Music and Dance) New Delhi, India. There
he had the good fortune to study under the late
Sangito Mahamahaupadhya Pandit Dilip Chander
Vedi (Vocal) and Padma Bhushan Pandit Debabrata
(Debu) Chaudhuri (Sitar) and Hindi at the Delhi
University through the courtesy of the Indian
High Commission of Trinidad and Tobago.
After Graduating he returned
to Trinidad as a qualified Classical Vocalist
and Musician. He then taught Vocal Music with
the Community Development Program, a branch
of the Ministry of Education and Culture and
at the University of the West Indies Creative
Art Workshop. He was employed as a Cultural
Officer with the All Trinidad Sugar and General
Workers Trade Union.
In August 1981 he won the
B.W.I.A. Challenge Trophy together with a Cash
Prize of $10,000 in the first Major Island Wide
Indian Classical Singing Competition with over
100 contestants, and is still the Undefeated
Champion.
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In December 1983 he then
immigrated to Canada where he taught for over
five (5) years Vocal and Instrumental Music
at various schools with the Board of Education
Continuing Education Classes.
In 1986, the Equality Group
organized a Grand Classical Indian Singing Competition,
which was held in Scarborough, Ontario, with
over 16 participants mainly from India &
Pakistan with Dev being the only West Indian.
The panel of judges headed by Professor Bhattacharya
of India declared the 1st Place Winner as being,
Dev Bansraj.
In 1990 Dev and his wife
Zaira (Ann) founded the Saaz-O-Awaaz Academy
of Indian Music, which is presently based in
Brampton, Ontario with Dev as the Director/Teacher.
The Academy today boasts of having produced
and still producing some of the finest Artistes
in the country with an average of 800 students
over the years, learning Indian Classical Music.
Over the years Dev has
been performing in Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana,
Venezuela, Barbados, Jamaica, Suriname, Canada,
the USA, the United Kingdom, India, etc. A Top
Ranking Artiste of Radio and Television, Dev
has performed on All India Radio, Spectrum and
B.B.C. (London), Radio Trinidad and T.T.T.,
Radio Demerara (Guyana) and various Radio and
T.V Stations in Canada and the U.S.A. He has
a wide variety of Live Recordings, Cassettes,
CDs and L.P Records. Dev sings in Hindi, Urdu,
Punjabi, and Bhojpuri, and is also the winner
of numerous awards. Dev has represented the
Trinidad & Tobago Government on many cultural
performances abroad.
Without a doubt Dev Bansraj
is the most respected, successful and celebrated
Artiste, Musician and Teacher to come from the
West Indies.
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