Famous
Sarod Player Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is one the most well known Indian musicians. Born on October 9th, 1945 at
Gwalior,
Madhya Pradesh, he was trained in Indian classical music by his father, Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan, a renowned Sarod player and the court musician of royal family of Gwalior. Amjad gave his first Sarod recital at the age of six. Traditional and yet creatively innovative, he has created several new
ragas such as Priyadarshini, Kamalashree, Kiran Ranjani, Haripriya Kanada, Shivanjali, Shyam Shri, Suhag Bhairav, Lalit Dhwani and Amiri Todi. He has performed at many prestigious venues including the WOMAD Festival in Adelaide and New Plymouth, Taranaki in New Zealand, Edinburgh Music Festival, World Beat Festival in Brisbane, Summer Arts Festival in Seattle, BBC Proms, International Poets Festival in Rome and at the Shiraz Festival.
The maestro has won several awards and accolades including Padmashree,
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Tansen Award, UNESCO Award, Padma Bhushan and International Music Forum Award. He has received Honorary Doctorates from University of York,
University of Delhi,
Visva Bharati University and 'Commander of the order of Arts and letters' by the French Government.
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, who lives in
Delhi's Sadhana Enclave on the
Outer Ring Road, has converted his ancestral house in Gwalior into a museum of musical instruments, named
Sarod Ghar. He has also founded the Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan Memorial Trust which organizes music festivals in different parts of India.
