Harmonium player:
Chaitanya is a leading Harmonium player having accompanied stalwarts in Hindustani Art music such as Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Dr. Prabha Atre, Pt. Dinkar Kaikini, Pt. Balasaheb Punchhawale, Vidushi Kishori Amonkar, Pt. Yashwantbuwa Joshi, Pt. Ramashrey Jha, Pt. Channulal Mishra, Vidushi Vasundhara Komkali, Pt. L. K. Pandit, Pt. T D Janorikar, Pt. Birju Maharaj, NrityaPanditaa Rohini Bhate, and leading artistes such as Rajan Sajan Mishra, Ulhas Kashalkar, Rashid Khan, Shruti Sadolikar, Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Padma Talawalkar, Ashwini Bhide - Deshpande, Arati Ankalikar – Tikekar, Prabhakar Karekar, Rajshekhar Mansoor, Ajay Pohankar, Vijay Sardeshmukh, Satyasheel Deshpande, Vijay Baxi, Suhasini Koratkar and many other popular & upcoming artists.
His accompaniment is marked with perfection and accuracy, yet it is aesthetically enriching with a deep understanding of the vocalist’s style and music in totality. A graded artiste for All India Radio, he has accompanied on Harmonium for several commercial recordings. He has toured in USA (2005), Australia and New Zealand (2005 and 2008) and Dubai (2004) for concerts, where he was appreciated for his accompaniment, solo Harmonium playing and lec-dems.
Besides being a busy and popular Harmonium accompanist, Chaitanya Kunte is taking huge efforts for Solo Harmonium recitals and continuing the mission lead down by his Guru, Dr. Arawind Thatte for establishing concert-status to Harmonium in Hindustani music scenario. Chaitanya has given Solo Harmonium performances in Pune, Thane, Ahmedabad, etc.
Composer:
In the world of Hindustani Art Music, having created a niche for him as a young composer, Chaitanya’s compositions cover a wide range of genre such as Khayal, Tappa, Tarana, Chataranga, Saadra, Saragam-geet, Thumari, Dadra, Bhajan etc.
* Compositions in Art Music – Chaitanya has composed a corpus of more than 300 Bandishes in variety of popular as well as uncommon Raagas and Taalas. For Chaitanya, his Bandishes are the creations evolved from the serious study of the tradition, incorporating its diverse aspects, by which he tries to keep the tradition flowing! ‘Suran Gaao Saras’, ‘Samprati’, ‘Praat Samaye’, ‘Soor Chaitanya’ are some of the concerts of his own Bandishes in Hindustani Art Music, sung by talented artistes such as Anuradha Kuber, Pushkar Lele, Raghunandan Panshikar, Manjusha Patil, Ranjani Ramchandran, Saniya Patankar, Sameer and Prachi Dublay. Along with these artists, maestros such as Arati Anklikar, Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, Shounak Abhisheki, Kalpana Zokarkar, etc take pleasure in singing his Bandish-s in their concerts.
*Music for Sanskrit literature – Chaitanya has scored music for several musicals in Sankrit including ‘Geet-Govindam’ (Ashtapadi of Kawi Jaydewa), Kalidas’s ‘Meghadootam’, and Sanskrit Stotras of Shankaracharya, Wallabhacharya, Ramanujacharya, etc.
* Music for Dance choreographies – Chaitanya has brilliantly composed music for Kathak dance and choreographies, such as ‘Amoorta’, ‘Rituchakra’, ‘Krishna Leela Keertan', ‘Vasudhatmika’; Oddissi dance ballet ‘Shaakuntal’ and BharatNatyam dance ballets, ‘Wyatha Bolate Kawya Chirantan’, 'Parijatak', 'ChandaPatni' and ‘NrityaSanchit’, ‘Parashuraam-Vijay’, ‘Panchatattwamritam’. His compositions of Chatarang, Saragam, Bhajans, etc. are choreographed and performed by various Kathak and BharatNatyam dancers. ‘Srujan-Prawaah’ is an exclusive performance of Chaitanya’s compositions for Kathak dance.
* Music for films & dramas – Chaitanya has successfully scored background music for Marathi dramas ‘Sangeet Kulawadhu’, ‘Bali’, title song for TV serial ‘Tapasya’, many AIR serials such as ‘Upanishadannche Antaranga’, 'Prakrut Sarita', documentary film ‘African Safari', 'Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram'.
Thematic concerts presented by Chaitanya Kunte:
He has presented many theme concerts with crafting of elaborate scripts after research of traditional and contemporary compositions, such as ‘Megh-Rang’, ‘Basant-Rang’, ‘Nayikaa-Bhaav-Tarang’, ‘Laya-Saras-Gaan’, ‘Bhairavi-Darshan’, ‘Kumar Gandharva Darshan’, ‘Kumar-Raag-Wilaas’.
Marathi Bhaaw-Sangeet by Chaitanya Kunte:
Chaitanya has creatively contributed for Marathi music especially by his compositions in Thumari -Dadra genre in Marathi Language; along with variety of compositions such as Abhang-Bhajan, Laawani, Bhaaw-geet, Ghazal.
Chaitanya has presented a 13 episode serial 'Tappa Gayaki' on AIR Pune which got applause from many veteran musicians and listeners. Many of his research articles are published in journals & newspapers. Chaitanya Kunte has contributed his unique vision in musicology being a Guest Editor for following publications –
1. ‘Chhandowati’ - A souvenir on the occasion of 60th anniversary of veteran vocalist Smt. Malini Rajurkar. (2001)
2. ‘PunyaSwar 2009’ - A special issue on ‘Music Culture in Pune’ which was published on 10th anniversary of Bhimsen Joshi Chair in University of Pune.
3. ‘PunyaSwar 2011’ - A special issue on ‘Bandish’ which was published by Bhimsen Joshi Chair, University of Pune.
4. ‘Swar-Smriti’ - A memoir of Pt. Mohanrao Karve, depicting his life and music. (2011)
5. “Marmajnya: Dr Ashok Da Ranade Commemorative volume” (Dec. 2012).
6. ‘CharitraKosh – Sangeet Khand’ - An encyclopedia of prominent personalities in the field of music in last century Maharashtra.
Besides hectic performance schedule, Chaitanya is working as a Guru and visiting lecturer at Lalit Kala Kendra (Centre For Performing Arts), Pune University since last 15 years. Some of his disciples are already actively performing in music field. He has also tutored at music / performing arts departments of SNDT, Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth.
Chaitanya is head of music section at Maharashtra Cultural Centre, Pune and since 2011; he is successfully conducting 'Sudarshan Sangeet Sabha, an academic activity on music & musicology. He has conducted practical training workshops and “Music Appreciation” course for students in India & abroad.
Chaitanya is a trustee of 'SwarGanga Music Foundation' in Atlanta, USA and Thane, India and he is a creative adviser to www.swarganga.com – an online encyclopedia of Hindustani Art Music.