Indian Sitar maestro Shujaat Khan to perform at Annenberg Center

Sruti, The India Music and Dance Society in partnership with Annenberg Center has organized an Indian Hindustani Music concert by Legendary Sitarist Ustad Shujaat Husain Khan. This concert will be held at Zellerbach Theater at Annenberg Center on September 28, 2013.

Shujaat Khan is one of the greatest North Indian classical musicians today. His style of playing Sitar, known as the Gayaki Ang (Vocal Style) imitates the human voice. Sitar is a stringed instrument of the lute family and has been the dominant North Indian musical instrument since 18^thcentury.

Shujaat Khan on the Sitar

Shujaat Khan's musical pedigree extends seven generations. He is the son and disciple of the great sitarist Ustad Vilayat Khan, and his grandfather, Ustad Inayat Khan, his great-grandfather, Ustad Imdad Khan, and his great-great-grandfather, Ustad Sahebdad Khan, were all leading artists of their respective generations.

Khan's musical career began at the age of three when he began practicing on a specially made small sitar. By the age of six, he was recognized as a child prodigy and began giving public performances.

Shujaat Khan has performed at all the prestigious music festivals in India and has performed throughout Asia, Africa, North America, and Europe. Shujaat Khan has also collaborated with different genres of music. The Rain, an album featuring Shujaat Khan and the Indo-Persian Ghazal ensemble, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2004 for "Best Traditional World Music Album".

Shujaat Khan will be accompanied by Abhiman Kaushal on the Tabla, which comprises of a pair of drums of different sizes and timbres as in the picture below.

Abhiman Kaushal on the Tabla

Abhiman Kaushal is an outstanding tabla artist. Abhiman has accompanied most of the leading musicians, singers and dancers of North Indian classical music. He has toured around the world performing in prestigious venues. He has numerous recordings and world music collaborations. Recently he was the solo featured musician for the acclaimed electronic dance drama Ramayana 2k3 which won rave reviews in Los Angeles and New York City. Abhiman is currently on faculty at UCLA and UCR as Director of the North Indian Classical Music ensembles.

Please visit www.sruti.org for more details and tickets