On Gharana
Amjad Ali Khan
Sarod Grand Master
Gharana refers to a community of artists who share a distinctive performance style and repertoire, and who trace their lineage to a particular teacher or region. In this memoire-style lecture, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan discusses the concept of gharana within Hindustani music and his own artistic practice, family, and lineage. He represents the sixth generation of the Senia Bangash gharana: his father, Ustad Haafiz Ali Khan (1882–1972), was a widely admired sarodist and court musician of Gwalior, and his sons Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash continue to carry the gharana forward. Having begun learning music from his father in the 1940s and debuting as an artist at the tender age of six, Amjad Ali Khan has witnessed monumental changes within the pedagogy and performance of Hindustani music over the course of his illustrious seven-decade career. In the first part of the lecture, Khan Saheb discusses the finer musical points of his own gharana and other gharanas. In the second part, he shares memories of learning music within the guru-shishya tradition, and he elaborates on the meaning of gharana in the twenty-first century.
About Amjad Ali Khan
Amjad Ali Khan is one of the undisputed masters of the music world. Born to sarod maestro Haafiz Ali Khan, he is the sixth generation in the legendary line of the Senia Bangash School. Since giving his first performance at the age of six, he has played for audiences worldwide, bringing a new and yet timeless interpretation to the repertoire, while being widely credited with reinventing the technique of playing the sarod.
Over the course of a distinguished career spanning more than six decades, Amjad Ali Khan has won numerous accolades including a Grammy nomination, the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum, Unicef's National Ambassadorship and the Fukuoka Cultural grand prize.
Amjad Ali Khan has made regular appearances at Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Sydney Opera House, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Esplanade Singapore, the Kennedy Center and Symphony Center in Chicago. He has performed at festivals worldwide including the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, WOMAD, World Beat Festival, Enescu Festival Bucharest, and the BBC Proms as well as for prestigious organizations such as the United Nations, UNESCO, World Arts Summit and for the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo in 2014.
Samaagam, his first sarod concerto, has been performed by the Britten Sinfonia, Orchestre National d'lle de France, Orchestre d'Auvergne, London Philharmonia, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Welsh National Opera and Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Amjad Ali Khan’s passion for bringing the sarod to new audiences has seen him give numerous residencies as well as being appointed as Visiting Professor at several universities, including Stanford University, University of New Mexico, York University and Jacob’s School of Music.
Amjad Ali Khan is a Gold Medal Winner at the Global Music Awards for his outstanding contribution to the global music industry and excellence in the classical music sphere. This honor was bestowed on the trailblazing trio of Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash in recognition of their “Peace Worshipers” album which was released in July 2017 by Affetto Records and distributed by Naxos.