Ustad Amjad All Khan is acknowledged throughout India as one of the foremost classical musicians and the maestro of his chosen instrument, the Sarod. Born in 1945 in Gwalior, he was initiated into playing the Sarod at the age of five and has grown from strength to strength. He learnt the Sarod from his father and represents the sixth generation of his family to inherit a classical tradition that goes back to the era of the court musicians of the Mughal Empire and the original ‘Senia-Beenkar Gharana musical school devoted to the tradition of the legendary Mian Tansen.
He has received the UNESCO award from the International Music Forum, the ‘Sarod Samrat from Prayag Sangeet Samiti and the Padmashri in 1975. He has also been honoured by the Sahitya Kale Parishad and the Sangeet Kale Sangam He has also received the ‘Musician of Musicians Award by the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is known internationally as the greatest living master of Bansuri, the North Indian bamboo flute. Chaurasia is probably the most accessible Hindustani musician who has done a lot to popularize Bansuri and classical music among the masses. Born in Allahabad in 1938 into a non-musical family, he had to learn music in secrecy, scared of a wrestler father who wanted him to become a wrestler. He began learning vocal music from Pt. Rajaram at the age of 15. Later, he switched to playing the flute under the tutelage of Pt. Bholanath of Varanasi. Much later, while working for All India Radio, he received guidance from the reclusive Smt. Annapurna Devi, daughter of Babe Allaudin Khan.
As a musician he is a rare combination of innovation and tradition and has significantly expanded the expressive possibilities of Classical North Indian flute-playing, through his blowing technique as Well as his adaptation of alap and jor to the flute. He has won a number of prestigious awards such as Sangeet Natak Academy, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhusan.
Dr, N. Rajam is one of the foremost Hindustani violinists of exceptional caliber. Born to a family initiated in music, she is well versed with both Hindustani and Carnatic traditions. She underwent extensive training under the late Pandit Omkarnath Thakur and inspired by him, she undertook an intensive research project in order to bring the violin into the layers of the ‘Gayaki Ang’. Her efforts and research provided a new dimension and direction to violin playing in Hindustani style thus elevating the status of the art of violin playing in India.
She has mastered the famous Banaras style of Thumri in violin under the guidance of the veteran Pandit Mahadev Mishra. In addition to being a sensitive artist, she is also a noted scholar and teacher who has been awarded with the Padamshree for her contributions in the field of music.
The gentle genius of Bismillah Khan is perhaps single handedly responsible for making Shehnai a famous classical instrument, Born in a small village in Bihar in 1917, Ustad Bismillah Khan learned Shehnai from his maternal uncle late Ali Bux who used to play in the famous Vishwanath temple of Varanasi. By sheer devotion and a burning passion for music, he was able to improvise intricate and dazzling musical pattern-weavings which were previously thought to be outside the range and scope of the Shehnai He brought Shehnai to the center stage of Indian music with his concert in the Calcutta All India Music Conference in 1937. After that them was no looking back for him. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to Indian classical music, he was conferred the Padma Bhushan in January 1968.
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