Bismillah Khan was born on 21 March 1913 in
Dumraon, Bihar in northern India. At the age of six, he moved to
Varanasi. He received his training under his uncle, the late Ali
Baksh 'Vilayatu', a shehnai player attached to Varanasi's
Vishwanath Temple. Bismillah Khan was perhaps single-handedly
responsible for making the shehnai a famous classical instrument.
He brought the shehnai to the center stage of Indian music with
his concert in the Calcutta All India Music Conference in 1937. He
was credited with having almost monopoly over the instrument as
he and the shehnai are almost synonyms.
Even if the world ends, the music will still
survive.Music has no caste.
On 17 August 2006, Khan was taken ill and admitted to the
Heritage Hospital, Varanasi for treatment. He died after four days
on 21 August 2006 due to a cardiac arrest. He is survived by five
daughters, three sons and a large number of grandchildren and
great-grandchildren, and his adopted daughter Dr Soma Ghosh
(famous Hindustani shastriya sangeet exponent).The Government
of India declared a day of national mourning on his death. His
body along with a Shehnai was buried at Fatemain burial ground
of old Varanasi under a neem tree with 21-gun salute from Indian
Army.
Bismillah Khan had honorary doctorates from
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan
Others include
Was invited by the then Prime Minister of India Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru to play shehnai on the first Independence
Day (15 August 1947) in Delhi's Red Fort.
Participated in World Exposition in Montreal
Participated in Cannes Art Festival
Participated in Osaka Trade Fair
His 80th birthday was celebrated by World Music Institute in
New York
Subbulakshmi (Kunjamma to her family) was born in
Madurai, Madras Presidency, India to veena player
Shanmukavadiver Ammal and Subramania Iyer. Her grandmother
Akkammal was a violinist.
She started learning Carnatic music at an early age and trained in
Carnatic music under the tutelage of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
and subsequently in Hindustani music under Pandit Narayanrao
Vyas. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had this to say about M.S.
Subbulakshmi- "Who am I, a mere Prime Minister before a Queen,
a Queen of Music". While Lata Mangeshkar called her Tapaswini
(the Renunciate), Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan termed her
Suswaralakshmi (the goddess of the perfect note), and Kishori
Amonkar labelled her the ultimate eighth note or Aathuvaan Sur,
which is above the seven notes basic to all music. The great
national leader and poet Sarojini Naidu called her "Nightingale of
India". Her many famous renditions of bhajans include the
chanting of Bhaja Govindam, Vishnu sahasranama (1000 names
of Vishnu), Hari Tuma Haro and the Venkateswara Suprabhatam
(musical hymns to awaken Lord Balaji early in the morning).She
was widely honoured, praised and awarded. Some of the more
popular ones include[15]
Padma Bhushan in 1954
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1956
Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1968 (literally, Treasure Chest of
Music. She was the first woman recipient of the title)
Ramon Magsaysay award (often considered Asia's Nobel
Prize) in 1974
Padma Vibhushan in 1975
Sangeetha Kalasikhamani in 1975 by The Indian Fine Arts
Society, Chennai
Kalidas Samman in 1988
Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration in 1990
Bharat Ratna in 1998.
Ravi Shankar was born in Varanasi (Kashi) and spent
his youth touring Europe and India with the dance group of his
brother Uday Shankar. He gave up dancing in 1938 to study sitar
playing under court musician Allauddin Khan. After finishing his
studies in 1944, Shankar worked as a composer, creating the
music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, and was music director
of All India Radio, New Delhi, from 1949 to 1956.
At the age of ten, after spending his first decade in Varanasi,
Shankar went to Paris with the dance group of his brother,
choreographer Uday Shankar.[6][7] By the age of 13 he had
become a member of the group, accompanied its members on
tour and learned to dance and play various Indian instruments.
In October 1970 Shankar became chair of the department of
Indian music of the California Institute of the Arts after previously
teaching at the City College of New York, the University of
California, Los Angeles, and being guest lecturer at other colleges
and universities, including the Ali Akbar College of Music.
Indian governmental honours
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1962)
Padma Bhushan (1967)
Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (1975).
Padma Vibhushan (1981)
Kalidas Samman from the Government of Madhya Pradesh
for 198788
Bharat Ratna (1999)
Zakir Hussain was born in Mumbai, India to the
legendary tabla player Alla Rakha.[1] He attended St. Michael's
High School in Mahim, and graduated from St. Xavier's, Mumbai.
[2]
Hussain was a child prodigy, and was touring by the age of
eleven. He went to the United States in 1970, beginning his
international career which includes more than 150 concert dates a
year.
Zakir Hussain married Antonia Minnecola, a Kathak dancer and
teacher, who is also his manager.[14] They have two daughters,
Anisa Qureshi and Isabella Qureshi. Anisa graduated from UCLA
and is trying her hand in video production and film making.
Isabella is studying dance in Manhattan.[15]
He was named an Old Dominion Fellow by the Humanities Council
at Princeton University, where he resided for the 20052006
semester as full professor in the music department.[16] He was
also a visiting professor at Stanford University.[17] He now resides
in San Francisco.
He has received many awards .They include
Padma Shri
Padma Bhushan
Grammy award for Best World Music Album
In 2005, he was named an Old Dominion Fellow by the
Humanities Council at Princeton University
Golden Strings of the Sarode (Moment! Records 2006)
On 8 February 2009 for 51st Grammy Awards, Zakir Hussain
won the Grammy in the Contemporary World Music Album
category for his collaborative album "Global Drum Project"
Hariprasad Chaurasia was born in Allahabad in
the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.[2] His father was a wrestler. His
mother died when he was 6. He had to learn music without his
father's knowledge, for his father wanted him to become a
wrestler. He did go to the Akhada and train with his father for
some time, although he also started learning music and practising
at his friend's house.
Hariprasad Chaurasia started learning vocal music from his
neighbor, Pandit Rajaram, at the age of 15. Later, he switched to
playing the flute under the tutelage of Pandit Bholanath Prasanna
of Varanasi for eight years. He serves as the artistic director of the
World Music Department at the Rotterdam Music Conservatory in
the Netherlands.
Awards
Sangeet Natak Academy - 1984
Konark Samman - 1992[3]
Padma Bhushan - 1992
Yash Bharati Sanman - 1994
Padma Vibhushan - 2000
Hafiz Ali Khan Award - 2000
Dinanath Mangeshkar Award - 2000
Pune Pandit Award - 2008, by The Art & Music Foundation,
Pune, India
Akshaya Sanman - 2009[12]
Honorary Doctorate, North Orissa University-2008
Honorary Doctorate, Utkal University-2011
National Eminence award, NADA VIDYA BHARTI by Visakha
Music and Dance Academy, Vizag - 2009
The 25 Greatest Global Living Legends In India by NDTV 2013.
