Gouri Choudhury

Early life

Choudhury was born into a musical family in Sylhet District, Sylhet Division, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). She started singing from the age of six.

In 1984, Choudhury completed her Secondary School Certificate. In 1985, she attended Sylhet Academy of Fine Arts and gained a diploma in Folk Songs. She then studied at Sylhet Shilpakala Academy, where received a diploma in Music and her Higher School Certificate. She continued her education and went to Chittagong University in 1988, where she studied Bachelor of Arts.

Career

After finishing her education, Choudhury came to the United Kingdom and started to work from 1989. She has worked as a Bengali music teacher in various London schools. She has in the past also volunteered as a Women's Development Officer for Bangladesh Welfare Association where she helped develop Asian women's skills and talents. She has recorded four cassettes and two CDs, one of Hindi music and one of Bengali music. In September 2011, she appeared on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, a music show broadcast on Zee TV.

Choudhury featured in the music video for Kula Shaker's 1996 song "Tattva", which reached number four in the UK charts. She is seen sitting playing the sitar. She featured on the track "Radhe Radhe" with Crispian Mills on the Kula Shaker's 1999 album Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts.

In May 2011, Choudhury performed at the Boishakhi Mela. In the same month, she was interviewed by Anwarul Hoque on BBC Asian Network.

Choudhury has over 20 years of experience singing a range of songs, including folk, Tagore and modern songs in multiple languages such as Bengali, Hindi and Urdu. She has toured Europe, the U.S. and Canada.

Awards and recognition

Choudhury has won many "Best Singer" awards, from Bangla TV in 2004, BIMA in 2004, ATN Bangla in 2005 and the community award for "Best Singer" from Channel S in 2006.

In 2002, she won the "Best Performance Award" after being asked by Zee TV to perform on their show Antaksari.