March 23-25, 2009,
7 pm
Prakriti Foundation presents
Venue: Museum Theatre, Egmore 23rd March, 2009, 7 pm
24th March, 2009, 7 pm
25th March, 2009, 7 pm
Donor Passes available at
Amethyst, Chamiers and all Landmark stores
For donor passes, please contact
Media mix: 25427941 / 42150950
Profiles
Being recognized as a child prodigy, today he has emerged, to be among the most sought after and versatile Indian musicians of India. He has achieved unparalleled mastery over Sitar-Surbahar technique and in different genres of Indian music such as Dhrupad, Khyal, Tappa and Thumree. Whether he is performing pure classical, folk or worldbeat/newage, audiences are stunned by his supreme virtuosity and musicality. This remarkable versatility allows Irshad Khan to transcend cultural barriers and turn each performance into a spellbinding and unforgettable experience for audience every where. Irshad Khan is the son and disciple of Ustad Imrat Khan and nephew of Ustad Vilayat Khan. His family represents the most respected Gharana (musical heritage) known as the Imdadkhani Gharana, of Sitar and Surbahar players in the world. Dating back over four hundred years, Irshad's ancestors had been among the best musicians and leading sitar players of India and are credited for the introduction of the Gayaki -Ang, vocal style on the sitar. His family has been paramount in the evolution of the sitar into its present form as well as in the creation of the Surbahar, which was invented by Irshad's great-great grandfather Ustad Sahebdad Khan. Irshad Khan gave his first public
performance at the age of seven. His international debut was at the Queen
Elizabeth Hall in London, England when he was only 13. At 18, he made history
by becoming the youngest soloist to perform at one of the most prestigious
international music festivals held in London, known as the Indian All night
concert at the Proms Since then, through his performances and International
press accolades and ground breaking albums, he has proved to be an outstanding
world musician. He has given more than 2000 performances, over 30 nations
in 5 continents.
Pt. Krishna
Ram Choudhary
He has also been seeking guidance in Shehnai playing from his respected uncle late Shri Ram Lal , the famous Film Music Director of India, who composed music for super hit films, like 'Sehara', 'Geet Gaya Patharo Ne' etc, He has partipated and performed in almost all important music concerts, conferences and festivals all over India and few out side India. Recently he has performed in Saptak Music Conference at Ahmedabad on 1st Jan.2009.
Sri Krishna Ram Choudhary is a popular and excellent Sehnai Player and has received wide acclaim for truly representating the pure Hindustani Classical and Semi-Classical Music such as Thumari, Chaiti, Kazari,Holi, Dadra and Purvi etc 
Shanno Khurana
Shanno Khurana excels in the entire gamut of Hindustani musical forms. Her Khayal recitals are marked by their deeply affecting plaintive vilambit compositions that are contrasted with vivid drut and taranas. She sings thumris and dadras with the typical lilt and poignant depth of the poorab-ang. And a Maand, Hori, Kajri or Chaiti can see her voice dance sentimentally. Musically, she has inherited a serious legacy: the tradition and rigour of the Rampur-Saheswan Gharana from Padmabhushan Ustad Mushtaq Husain Khan and the intellectual vision of the eminent philosopher and musicologist Padmabhushan Thakur Jaideva Singh. In a pioneering effort to bring classical
and folk music to the public, she composed, directed and sang in five operas
which were each based on over 70 classical ragas. These achieved unprecedented
acclaim right from the first one in 1956 to the last one in 1980. Her organization
Geetika (est. 1968) has brought our attention to some of the most serious
issues affecting our music and musicians. To give women musicians (vocalists
and instrumentalists, Hindustani and Carnatic) a viable and respectable
profession she started a festival called Bhairav-Se-Sohni in 1983 which
has now grown into a nation-wide movement. For the past ten years her prime
concern has been to
She is also an eminent musicologist and has published over 40 papers on Indian classical and folk music, their history, Ragamalas and Indian aesthetics, music therapy in neuro-psychiatry, etc. Further, she has produced two substantial pieces of research: the first providing a stylistic analysis and history of the eight major Hindustani Gharanas, and the second, her doctorate, was an in depth musicological analysis of the folk music of Rajasthan. Both have been published. Shanno Khurana was recorded by UNESCO
in Paris as part of the Intangible Heritage of the World. She was given
the honorific of “Oltin Bulbule”, the Golden Nightingale of the East, by
UNESCO in a glittering ceremony in Samarkand. She has performed in every
major festival in India and across Europe, Asia and the US. The country’s
highest professional honour for the performing arts, the Ratna Sadasya
or Fellowship of the Sangeet Natak Akademi was conferred on her in 2003.
She has been awarded the Padmabhushan, Padmashri, Panjabi Akademi Award
2006 – 07 for lifetime contribution to music, Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi
Award and the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshani, the Baba Alauddin Khan Award,
amongst many others.
Visit us at www.gharanafestival.com
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As
one of the foremost representatives of a musical heritage unprecedented
in India and the torch bearer of the younger generation of the ImdadKhani
Etawa Gharana, Irshad Khan is internationally recognized as one of the
greatest sitar players and as the leading Surbhar exponent of his generation.
Irshad Khan's individual stamp in both these instruments ascends from the
distinctiveness of his technique and mental prowess. His style is followed
and inspired by many formative and professional sitar players of his generation.
His dedication to the subtleties of the raga, in bringing out its essence
in rendering its pure form of feelings and expressions. His phenomenal
control of the intricate "Gayaki-Ang" (vocal) and "Tantra-Ang" (instrumental)
styles makes Irshad Khan one of the most dynamic musicians of today.
Pt.
Krishna Ram Choudhary was born in Benaras. The musical environment of the
family enabled him to imbibe the best in Indian musical traditions and
paved the way to achieving proficiency and perfection in his chosen field.
He began his professional career in Shehnai playing at the age of twelve
under the guidance of his father late Shri Buddha Lal Choudhary, a devoted
Shehnai player and disciple of late Pandit Bade Ram Das Ji, the famous
Hindustani Classical Vocalist of India. He further went on to learn the
nuances of Raga-exposition and higher technique of Shehnai playing at the
feet of the great Vocalist of Benaras Gharana, late Pandit Mahadeva Prasad
Mishra, Varanasi (India).
Shanno
Khurana’s legendary voice continues to capture our hearts even today, 63
years after her first broadcast on Lahore radio in 1945. Born in Jodhpur,
Rajasthan, in 1927, she was trained from a young age to carry her voice
with open abandon, zest and power, a far cry from the modern voices that
are created for microphones. Shanno Khurana is one of the greatest living
treasures of Hindustani music who has enthralled audiences from the United
States to London, Vienna and Paris, through the Middle East, Southeast
Asia to Tokyo in some of the most memorable concerts of our times.
