Brooklyn, NY
HMQ
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Ujjal Bhattacharyya (b. 1994) is an Indian-American percussionist based in Brooklyn, New York. Ujjal holds a BFA in Percussion Performance with an Additional Major in Mathematical Sciences from Carnegie Mellon Universty, an MM in Percussion Performance from Ithaca College, and an AD from Carnegie Mellon University.
Ujjal has won or placed in several solo competitions, including the ENKOR International Music Competition (1st Prize, 2019), Italy Percussion Competition (2nd Prize, Marimba Category B, 2018), Heartland Marimba Festival Solo Competition (Winner, 2015), and Great Plains International Marimba Competition (3rd Prize, Undergraduate Division, 2014). He has also premiered solo keyboard works by a multitude of composers including Gordon Stout, Marco Schirripa, Carla Bartlett, Keeghan Fountain, and Josh Oxford. Ujjal has performed with a multitude of chamber and orchestral groups, including un/pitched Percussion Trio, Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, La Crosse Symphony, Nat28, Alia Musica, Heartland Marimba Ensemble (HME), and Heartland Marimba Quartet (HMQ). He has also given masterclasses at several universities as a soloist and through his involvement with Heartland Marimba Quartet.
Over the years, Ujjal has held many roles within the Heartland Marimba organization; he started as a festival participant at the very beginning in 2014, became an apprentice in 2015, and toured as an artist with Heartland Marimba Ensemble in 2018. In 2020, Ujjal was selected to become a member of Heartland Marimba Quartet- the premier ensemble of the Heartland Marimba organization. As a member of HMQ and Productions Director of Heartland Marimba, Ujjal performs on several tours per concert season, composes and arranges for the group, and assists with the organization’s administrative needs.
Ujjal is lucky to have had a long list of amazing teachers through the years. He is immensely grateful to Dina Woodside, Laura LaGrange, May Tsao-Lim, Paula Forrest, Andrew Buttermore, Chris Ewan, Barry Larkin, Greg Evans, Conrad Alexander, Jeremy Branson, Chris Allen, Paul Evans, and Gordon Stout for their years of lessons, mentorship, and wisdom.
Ujjal is a Marimba One Discovery Artist and JG Percussion Keyboard Artist.
