Friday, September 27, 2013
BHAJAN SOPORI (born 1948 in Srinagar, Kashmir) is
an Indian instrumentalist. He is a player of santoor, an ancient
stringed musical instrument.
Sopori hails
from Sopore in Kashmir Valley and traces his lineage to ancient
Santoor experts. He belongs to the Sufiana gharana of Indian
classical music. His family has played santoor for over six generations. His
first public performance was at a conference organised by Prayag Sangeet Samiti
& the University of Allahabad when he was 10 years
old. Sopori's son Abhay Rustum Sopori is also a santoor player.
Both father and son have given several performances together.
Pandit Bhajan
Sopori has taught music at Washington University, US. His performances have
been broadcast in India and seen by both cultural associations there and by
audiences in countries such as Belgium, Egypt, England, Germany, Norway, Syria
and the USA. Pandit Sopori, considered as the cultural link between Jammu
and Kashmir and rest of India, also runs a music academy called SaMaPa (Sopori
Academy for Music and Performing Arts), which is actively involved in promoting
Indian classical music. SaMaPa is involved in promoting music
with jail inmates, with the objective of using music for healing the prisoners
and creating an emotional bond between the society & the
prisoners. The academy has trained several musicians and revived old
instruments. It was presented the state government dogri award in
2011.
Sopori was
awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1993 and the Padma
Shri in 2004. In 2009 he was honoured with the Baba Allaudin Khan
Award. He was also awarded the M N Mathur award in 2011 for his
contribution to Indian classical music. His other awards include the Jammu
and Kashmir State Award, the National Flag Honour of the Arab Republic of
Egypt, Delhi Ratna Award, Delhi Telugu Academy Award, Beenkar Samman, Sangeet
Vibhuti Award and Sangeet Ratna Award.
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