As a singer, Amrita is a class apart

As a singer, Amrita is a class apart

Amrita Bera is a ghazal singer who renders her voice with legendary singers like Jagjit Singh and Ghulam Ali. Unlike many singers she hasn't chosen the usual route of album and playback singing. Her forte is live concerts where the feedback of the audience, heard through their applause, is rewarding.
Born in Kolkata, the Mecca of music, Amrita started learning music at the age of eight. She completed three years of vocal music course from Prayag Sangeet Samiti and used to perform at the school-level functions.
Amrita's family shifted to Delhi when she was fourteen years of age. "I completed my schooling in Delhi and unfortunately lost my father when I was 16. We had to face lot of hardships. To supplement family income I used to sing in local Durga Puja and other small functions but music took a back seat," she reminiscences.
"In Delhi when I first heard ghazals of Jagjit and Chitra Singh, Ghulam Ali and Mehendi Hassan, I became absolutely fascinated by this genre of singing. Then I started learning ghazal singing from Ustad Nadeem Ahmed of Kirana Gharana and also started performing in five-star hotels of Delhi. Here my parents' interest in Hindi-Urdu literature helped me in learning Urdu poetry. I did not have any problem with my diction," she says.
Amrita was married early and her husband encouraged her to pursue her passion. She resumed her vocal training. "I remained in hotel singing for quite some time as that was the trend in those days. I found the audience there were mature and knowledgeable about music so I started learning classical singing from Ustad Amir Khan Saheb of Kirana Gharana and later on learnt from Pandit Mani Prasadji."
About foreign tours and some memorable concerts, Amrita says, "When few singers like Kumar Sanu, Abhijit used to perform live outside India, I was lucky to share the stage with these great singers. During that course, I gave public performances in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Egypt and Hong Kong. In India I have performed in Jodhpur, Kolkata and other cities."
Apart from ghazals Amrita sings in Bengali, Punjabi, Rajasthani and Tamil.
At a time when album singing is the fad, hasn't she limited herself to live concerts? Amrita counters, "It is not true. I sang for Dhin Tinak Dhin which is a pop album and then cut a Bhajan album Krishna in 2003. Right now I am in the process of preparing my new album in which songs have been penned by renowned poet Dewal Ashish. This album will be a combination of geet and ghazals in contemporary pop/fusion music style and will be released early next year". Why not playback singing for her? "I don't need such type of exposure. I am enjoying what I am doing. Besides singing I am associated with an NGO called Srijanatmak Manushi Sanstha where I teach music to the underprivileged girls and another is Amba Foundation.

Amrita’s forte is live concerts where the feedback of the audience, heard through their applause, is rewarding. She has given public performances in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Egypt and Hong Kong. In India she has performed in Jodhpur, Rajasthan & Kolkata.