Wednesday, August 21, 2013
USTAD AMJAD ALI KHAN (born 9
October 1945) is an Indian classical musician who plays
the Sarod. Khan was born into a musical family and has performed
internationally since the 1960s. He was awarded India's second highest civilian
honor, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2001.
Khan was
born in Gwalior on 9 October 1945 as Masoom Ali Khan, the youngest of
seven children, to Gwalior court musicianHafiz Ali Khan and Rahat
Jahan. His family is part of the Bangash lineage and Khan is in
the sixth generation of musicians; his family claims to have invented the sarod. His
personal name was changed by a sadhu to Amjad. Khan receivedhomeschooling and
studied music under his father. In 1957, a cultural organization in Delhi
appointed Hafiz Ali Khan as its guest and the family moved to Delhi. Friends
of Hafiz Ali convinced him of the importance of formal schooling for his son;
as a result, Amjad was taken to meet the Principal of Modern School in
New Delhi and admitted there as a day scholar. He attended Modern School from
1958 to 1963.
Khan first performed in the United States in 1963 and
continued into the 2000s, with his sons. He has experimented with
modifications to his instrument throughout his career. Khan played with
the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and worked as a visiting
professor at the University of New Mexico. In 2011, he performed
on Carrie Newcomer's album Everything is Everywhere with
his sons.
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