AMJAD ALI KHAN ENSEMBLE: THREE SARODS AND TWO TABLAS ARTISTS
Amjad Ali Khan was all of 6 years old when Amjad Ali Khan gave his first recital of Sarod. It was the beginning of yet another glorious chapter in the history of Indian classical music. Taught by his father Haafiz Ali Khan Amjad Ali Khan was born to the illustrious Bangash lineage rooted in the Senia Bangash School of music. Today he shoulders the sixth generation of inheritance in this legendary lineage.
After Amjad's debut, the career graph of this musical legend took the speed of light, and along its way the Indian classical music scene was witness to regular and scintillating bursts of Raga supernovas. Thus, the world saw the Sarod being given a new and yet timeless interpretation by Amjad Ali Khan. Khan is one of the few maestros who consider his audience to be the soul of his motivation. As he once said, "There is no essential difference between classical and popular music. Music is music. I want to communicate with the listener who finds Indian classical music remote."
He has performed at the WOMAD Festival in Adelaide and New Plymouth, Edinburgh Music Festival, World Beat Festival in Brisbane, Taranaki in New Zealand, Summer Arts Festival in Seattle, BBC Proms, International Poets Festival in Rome, Shiraz Festival, UNESCO, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Adelaide Music Festival, 1200 Years celebration of Frankfurt WOMAD Rivermead Festival, UK, and ‘Schonbrunn’ in Vienna.
Amjad Ali Khan's collaborations include a piece composed for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yoshikazu Fukumora,duets with guitarist Charley Byrd, violinist Igor Frolov, soprano Glenda Simpson, guitarists Alvaro Pierri and Barry Mason, and cellists Claudio Bohorquez and Matthew Barley. He has been a visiting professor at the Universities of Yorkshire, Washington, Stony Brook, North Eastern and New Mexico. In 1999, Mr. Khan inaugurated the World Festival of Sacred Music with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
In 2009, Mr. Khan presented his Sarod concerto Samagam with the Taipei Chinese Orchestra. The same year Amjad Ali Khan was nominated for a Grammy award in the best traditional world music album category. Khan has been nominated for the album Ancient Sounds, a joint-venture with Iraqi oud soloist Rahim Alhaj. Recently, the Khans collaborated with American folk artist Carrie Newcomer at the Lotus Arts Festival in Bloomington. On the ninth anniversary of 9/11, Amjad Ali Khan gave a Peace Concert at the United Nations in New York in the presence of the UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon.
Amjad has been a regular performer at the Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Kennedy Center, Santury Hall (First Indian performer), House of Commons, Theater Dela ville, Musee Guimet, ESPLANADE in Singapore, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Chicago Symphony Center, Palais beaux-arts, Mozart Hall in Frankfurt, St. James Palace and the Opera House in Australia.
Married and with two sons, Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan (both well-known names in the music scene) are the seventh generation of musicians in the family.The younger Khan’s have been labeled ‘Coming Masters’ by the New York Times. Amjad Ali Khan's wife’ Subhalakshmi Khan has been a great exponent of the Indian classical dance, Bharatnatyam, which, she sacrificed for her family. As a soul, so in his heart, Amjad Ali Khan is a man who has proven his indomitable belief in the integration of two of life's greatest forces, love and music. He is a living example of a man who practices that integration each day of his life, both on stage and off stage.
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Artist's website
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarodmaestroamjadalikhan/
Twitter: @AAKSarod
