Shafqat Ali Khan (born 17 June 1972) is a classical singer of the

khyal Khyal or Khayal (ख़याल / خیال) is a major form of Hindustani classical music in the Indian subcontinent. Its name comes from a Persian/Arabic word meaning "imagination". Khyal is associated with romantic poetry, and allows the perfo ...

vocal genre, from

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, belonging to the

Sham Chaurasia gharana Sham Chaurasi Gharana is a vocal gharana (a family's style of singing) in Hindustani classical music known for the singing of vocal duets. It is also known as the cradle of drupad. It is one of the four singing gharanas of Punjab; the other thr ...

.Tributes paid to the classical singers
Daily Times (newspaper), published 19 December 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2018 The youngest son of Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, Shafqat began performing from the age of seven, when he appeared at the Lahore Music Festival at

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

in 1979. Shafqat Ali Khan is the custodian of a four hundred year legacy of classical music. A major Pakistani English language newspaper reportedly commented about him, "This line of musicians began with Mian Chand Ali Khan and Mian Suraj Ali Khan who used to quell the heart and soul of Mughal Emperor Akbar by singing for him."

Awards and recognition

Describing a performance by Shafqat Ali Khan, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, ''"exuberant complications, in which melodic gestures join hand-waving and synchronized finger-pointing to form an eloquent symbiosis."''Interview with Shafqat Ali Khan by Ally Adnan
The Friday Times (newspaper), Published 26 December 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2018 Khan has received numerous awards including the Amir Khusro Award in 1986, a Ghanda Award from New Delhi University in 1995 and a gold medal from Faisalabad University in 2004. Shafqat Ali Khan received the

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

Award by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Universal Peace Federation The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or "Moonie (nickname), Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 unde ...

held in Washington, D.C. In his message, Shafqat thanks to his fans and said that he has displayed the country's soft image and message of peace in the world through his music.

Career

Besides performing in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, Pakistan and

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

, Shafqat Ali Khan has performed concerts throughout Europe and in the United States and Canada. His recording labels are HMV (UK), EMI (India), EMI (Pakistan), WaterLily Acoustics (USA), MegaSound (India) and Folk Heritage (Pakistan).Shafqat Ali Khan's music and music labels
Retrieved 26 November 2018 Shafqat Ali Khan feels that since classical music is not commercial, all classical singers and other persons related to classical music can not earn enough to make a decent living for themselves. So they should be given additional monthly support income by the Pakistani government. Shafqat ali khan has many students all over India and Pakistan. Shafqat Ali Khan has two sons, Faizan Ali Khan and Nadir Ali Khan, they are singing with their father in concerts these days.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Shafqat Ali 1972 births Living people Vocal gharanas Pakistani ghazal singers Pakistani classical singers Recipients of the Pride of Performance Pakistani musicians Classical music in Pakistan Pakistani classical musicians