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He 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, a musician to
the royal family of Gwalior, Amjad Ali Khan was born to the
illustrious Bangash lineage rooted in the Senia Bangash School
of music. Today he shoulders the sixth generation inheritance
of this legendary lineage.
After his debut, the career graph of this musical legend took
the speed of light, and on its way the Indian classical music
scene was witness to regular and scintillating bursts of Raga
supernovas. And 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, Taranaki in New Zealand, WOMAD Rivermead Festival
in UK, Edinburgh Music Festival, World Beat Festival in Brisbane,
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 and Schonbrunn in Vienna.
In the matter of awards, Amjad Ali Khan has the privilege
of winning the kind of honours and citations at his relatively
young age, which, for many other artistes would have taken
a lifetime. He is a recipient of the UNESCO Award, Padma Vibhushan
Highest Indian civilian award), Unicef's National Ambassadorship,
The Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum and Hon'ry Doctorates
from the Universities of York, England, Delhi University and
the Vishva Bharti (Deshikottam) in Shantiniketan and "Commander
of the order of Arts and letters" by the French Government
and this year, the the 15th Fukuoka Asian Culture Grand Prize
2004 in Japan.
He represented India in the first World Arts Summit in Venice,
received Hon'ry Citizenship to the States of Texas, Massachusetts,
Tennessee and the city of Atlanta. April 20th, 1984 was declared
as Amjad Ali Khan Day in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1995, Mr.
Khan was awarded the Gandhi UNESCO Medal in Paris for his
composition Bapukauns.
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