Lauren Chakraborty
At age 5, Lauren Chakraborty took the stage at a ski lodge for a karaoke night. Her song: Elton John’s Crocodile Rock. The outcome: success. Her musical career had begun.
Today, as a Ridgefield High School junior, Lauren is a well-known musician, debater, and person devoted to bringing together various community groups.
“I believe in serving the community and making it a better place in which to live. I want to mentor students in the elementary and middle schools, expand the arts, and bring scientific awareness to different groups,” she said.
In addition to singing, she plays about 10 different instruments and plays rock, funk, classical, jazz, pop, and any other form of music you put in front of her. She has also become a very popular music teacher in the area.
Now, as the president of RMAC (Ridgefield Music and Arts Center), Chakraborty wants to expand the program to younger students and to other arts venues.
“My goals for RMAC are to have performances and exhibits all over the community; at the library, at art walks, at the town’s holiday stroll, at the spring festival, etc. We need the younger students to see us and realize how valuable their talents can be to the community.”
While in middle school, she started her own band, Apollo’s Legacy. The band played at various nursing homes and for fund-raisers all around the area. She saw the power of music with people with Alzheimer’s and loved playing old-time music for the patients. She even wrote her own music about the plight of having Alzheimer’s.
“The people in the Alzheimer’s units were so happy when we visited each month. It brought them such joy,” Chakraborty said.
Chakraborty plays and sings in six musical groups: Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra (principal cello), Ridgefield High School Orchestra (upright bass), Ridgefield High School Chamber Music Orchestra (cello), Ridgefield High School Jazz Band (piano), Ridgefield High School Pit Band (electric bass), The Bothers, a funk/rock band (vocals and electric bass), The Weekly Special Jazz Band (piano,) and her original band, Apollo’s Legacy, rock (vocals and electric bass).
She also writes all her own music. When you hear Ms. Chakraborty perform, she is probably performing one of her own songs, especially if she has the vocals. Her song Breaking Point now plays regularly on the radio on Long Island.
“This song is about the pressures that people my age are feeling to succeed. These people may look good on the outside but are in turmoil on the inside,” she said, noting that the song is not autobiographical but came about after counseling friends.
When she entered Ridgefield High School she extended her work in music, but also became vice president of the debate team and is now one of its most successful competitors. She competes regularly and has been undefeated in several tournaments. Her last debate was on whether the United States should approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty.
The other big passions in her life are raising funds for various musical venues at the high school as head of the school’s Music Leadership Council and orchestrating the launching of weather balloons with video cameras in Ballard Park.
“I am very excited about launching atmospheric weather balloons when the weather is right, as there is so much we can learn about possible life in the upper atmosphere. I am fascinated by science and all that there still is to learn about the Earth.”
Currently she is taking four Advanced Placement classes, and she has always been on the high honor roll. She said she hopes to attend an Ivy League college with a strong music program, but that economics will probably be her major.
Chakraborty may be a hard name to remember, but in Lauren’s case, it will be heard so often around town, due to all her good works, that it will be hard to forget.
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