Amjad Ali Khan and Ensemble begin Don Michael Randel Ensemble Residency

September 30, 2022
Amjad Ali Khan, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash

Legendary sarod master Amjad Ali Khan presents three public performances

 

Amjad Ali Khan and his ensemble begin their appointment as the 2022-23 Don Michael Randel Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of Chicago this October. An undisputed master of the music world, sarod virtuoso Amjad Ali Khan is widely credited with reinventing the technique of playing the sarod.  

Amjad Ali Khan and his ensemble will make three visits to the University for weeklong residencies in each of the Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters of 2022 and 2023. The artists will offer public concerts and events across the UChicago campus, as well as participating in interdisciplinary panels and discussions, making classroom visits and presentations, leading workshops with Department of Music ensembles, and engaging with school and community music programs in the city.  

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 for the sarod, a nineteen-stringed instrument. Amjad Ali Khan’s passion for bringing the sarod to new audiences has seen him give numerous residencies and hold appointments 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. He 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’s two sons will join him throughout the residency at UChicago. Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash represent the seventh generation of a musical lineage known as the Senia Bangash School. Sons and disciples of the Sarod icon Amjad Ali Khan, and grandson of the Haafiz Ali Khan, both brothers stepped into the world of music and the Sarod with confidence, clarity, consistency, and the technical mastery that they learned at their father’s knee. Both have emerged as esteemed artists forging a unique artistic vision that only comes from a great legacy. 

The Randel residency was established with a gift from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to honor its departing president and noted musicologist, Don Michael Randel, who served as the 12th president of the University of Chicago and is an emeritus faculty member in the Department of Music. The funding supports an acclaimed musical ensemble for up to three years, providing a permanent home for world-class musicians to engage with the University and Hyde Park communities. The Pacifica Quartet, the resident ensemble in the Department of Music for seventeen years, was the first to hold the appointment as Don Michael Randel Ensemble-in-Residence beginning in 2013. Subsequent Ensembles in Residence have been Imani Winds (2016-2018), Sweet Honey In The Rock (2018-19), Plena Libre (2019-20), and Quatuor Diotima (2021-22). 

Current details about Amjad Ali Khan’s public performances and events are below. Additional information for winter and spring events will be announced later this season.