Shri Manik Banerjee plays Hindustani classical music on the sarod in the style of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. At present, he teaches sarod at Banasthali University, located about 70 km outside of Jaipur, India, having moved there from Lucknow, where he had been settled for many years as a teacher and performer. Manik Banerjee has presented many live concerts, as well as performed on All India Radio and Doordarshan.
Born in August 1952, Manik Banerjee started learning music at a very young age in the tradition of the Shahjahanpur Gharana from his father the late Durgadas Banerjee, who was the department head for sarod and sitar at Gandhi Sangeet Vidyalaya in Kanpur. Manik ji started his training on sarod, sitar and vocal music, but soon started focusing on the sarod primarily.
Manik-ji first heard Ali Akbar Khan at the age of 11 years, and was immediately entranced by his music and his style of playing the sarod. He met Khan-sahib himself in April 1964 on one of Ali Akbar's visits to Kanpur, and on learning of Manik-ji's deep interest in his style of music, Ali Akbar Khan blessed him with all his heart and suggested that he learn from him in his school in Calcutta. Unfortunately, Manik-ji was unable to follow up on Khan-sahib's suggestion because his parents did not give him permission to travel so far away from home at such a young age.
Even so, encouraged by Ali Akbar Khan's blessing, Manik-ji persisted in inculcating Khan-sahib's style into his own music, alongside his traditional training from his own father. He did learn Ali Akbar's style more formally some years later from his son Dhyanesh Khan, and currently Manik-ji's music continues to be informed by Ali Akbar Khan's music, while incorporating elements of vocal music according his own conception of the raagas.
Manik Banerjee plays a professional-grade Hemen sarod custom-made for him by Hemen Sen in 1980.