Prof.(Dr.)RezwanaChoudhuryBannya

Born in Rangpur to a family steeped in Rabindrik culture — her father Mazher Khan a civil servant, her mother Esmat Khan a teacher, both devoted admirers of Tagore — Rezwana grew up as 'Bannya', a nickname drawn from the heroine of Tagore's beloved novel Shesher Kabita. She trained at Chhayanat, Dhaka, before winning an ICCR scholarship that took her to Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, in 1975. There she studied under the greatest living masters of Rabindrasangeet — Shailajaranjan Majumdar, Santidev Ghosh — and most intimately under Kanika Bandopadhyay (Mohordi), who became her mentor, guru, and lifelong confidante.

In 1992, returning to Dhaka with the confidence of a fully realised artist, and at Mohordi's direct instruction, Bannya founded Shurer Dhara. What began as a single classroom grew into Bangladesh's foremost institution for Rabindrasangeet and Bengali performing arts — with branches in India, the United States, and Canada, training thousands of students across generations. She is today Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Dance at Dhaka University, and an external PhD examiner at Rabindra Bharati University, India.

Over four decades she has recorded more than 900 songs released across Germany, the United States, India, and Bangladesh — including over 100 albums, and was HMV's best-selling artist from 1999 to 2005. She has performed before heads of state, at UNESCO in Paris, at Symphony Space on Broadway in New York, and across Asia, Europe, and the Americas as a National Artist of Bangladesh. In 2009 she launched Music for Development, bringing music to underprivileged children in Dhaka's slum communities. In 2016 she received Bangladesh's highest civilian honour — the Independence Day Award (Sadhinota Podok). In 2024, the Government of India awarded her the Padma Shri — one of India's highest civilian honours.