Shujaat Husain Khan (born 19 May 1960) is one of the most acclaimed North Indian musicians and ''

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

'' players of his generation. He belongs to the Imdadkhani ''gharana'', also called

Etawah gharana The Etawah gharana is a North Indian school of sitar and surbahar music and named after a small town close to Agra where Imdad Khan (1848–1920) lived. It is also known as Imdadkhani gharana in the honour of its founder, Imdad Khan. Imdad K ...

school of music. He has recorded over 100 albums and was nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best World Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album is an honor presented to recording artists for influential music from around the globe at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors i ...

for his work with the band

Ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

with Iranian musician

Kayhan Kalhor Kayhan Kalhor (, born on 24 November 1964) is an Iran, Iranian Kurds, Kurdish kamancheh and setar player, and a vocal composer. He has received three Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album nominations. Kalhor has also earned two nom ...

. He also sings frequently. His style of sitar playing, known as 'gayaki ang', is imitative of the subtleties of the human voice.

Early life

Born in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

in 1960, Shujaat Khan is the son of legendary sitar player Ustad Vilayat Khan and Monisha Hazra. Shujaat 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 formal performances. He had privilege of being influenced by great artists like Ustaad

Amir Khan (singer) Ustad Amir Khan (; 15 August 1912 – 13 February 1974) was an Indian singer and musician in the Hindustani classical tradition. He was the founder of the Indore gharana. Early life and background Amir Khan was born in a family of musicians i ...

, Pandit

Bhimsen Joshi Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi (; ; 4 February 1922 – 24 January 2011), also known by the honorific prefix Pandit, was one of the greatest Indian vocalists in the Hindustani classical tradition from the Indian subcontinent. He is known for the ''kha ...

, Vidushi

Kishori Amonkar Kishori Amonkar (10 April 1932 – 3 April 2017) was an Hindustani classical music, Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, Jaipur Gharana, or a community of musicians sharing a distinctive musical style. She is cons ...

and many more. He has musical pedigree that extends back to seven generations: his grandfather, Ustad

Enayat Khan Ustad Enayat Khan (; (1894–1938) also known as Nath Singh was one of India's most influential sitar and surbahar players in the first decades of the 20th century. He was the father of Vilayat Khan, one of the top sitariyas (sitar players) of ...

; his great-grandfather, Ustad

Imdad Khan Ustad Imdad Khan (1848 – 1920) was a sitar and surbahar player. He was the first sitar player ever to be recorded.Saharanpur Saharanpur is a city and a Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the public administration, administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district. Saharanpur city's name was given after the Sain ...

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

Etawah Etawah (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Iṭāvā''), also known as Ishtikapuri, is a city situated on the banks of Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawa ...

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

Indore Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...

, Gouripur (now in Bangladesh),

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Shimla Shimla, also known as Simla ( the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. After independence, the city ...

and

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

. He has a brother, sitarist Hidayat Khan and two sisters Sufi singer, Zila Khan and Yaman Khan. Shujaat Khan is married to Parveen Khan and their son Azaan also is a music composer.

Performing career

Shujaat Husain Khan gave his first concert at the age of 6 at

Jehangir Art Gallery Jehangir Art Gallery is an art gallery in Mumbai (India). It was founded by Sir Cowasji Jehangir at the urging of K. K. Hebbar and Homi J. Bhabha. It was built in 1952. Managed by the Committee of Management, the entire cost of this mansion wa ...

. Shujaat Hussain Khan has performed at numerous music festivals in India and has traveled around the world performing in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. This includes Sawai Gandharva Sangeet Mahotsav, Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki Sangeet Samaroha, Maitra Mahotsav. Shujaat Khan appeared in a program called ''Classical Studio'' under the

Saregama Saregama India Ltd is an Indian music record label and content company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is the oldest music label in India, established in 1901 as the Indian branch of the British Gramophone Company. It later became ...

label. His approach to rhythm is largely intuitive, fresh and spontaneous, always astonishing his audiences like his father,

Vilayat Khan Ustad Vilayat Khan (28 August 1928 – 13 March 2004) was an Indian classical sitar player, considered by many to be the greatest sitarist of his age. Along with Imdad Khan, Enayat Khan, and Imrat Khan, he is credited with the creation a ...

. He is also known for his exceptional voice, which he uses for singing folk songs, including the album ''Lajo Lajo'' (1995), as well as poetry, as in ''Hazaron Khwahishen''. Shujaat Khan was featured in the concerts celebrating

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

's 60th anniversary of independence in 2007, and performed at the

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

with the Iranian musician

Paramount Theater, Seattle, and Meyers Symphony Theater,

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. In a special performance, he also played at the United Nations in the Assembly Hall,

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. His memorable appearances include performance at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

in London,

Royce Hall Royce Hall is a building on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Designed by the Los Angeles firm of Allison & Allison (James Edward Allison, 1870–1955, and his brother David Clark Allison, 1881–1962) and completed ...

in Los Angeles and

Congress Hall Congress Hall, located in Philadelphia at the intersection of Chestnut and 6th Streets, served as the seat of the United States Congress from December 6, 1790, to May 14, 1800. During Congress Hall's duration as the capitol of the United State ...

in Berlin. In the summer of 1999, he was the featured soloist with the

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Edmonton, Alberta. As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city it presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to co ...

in Canada. His collaboration with different genres of music has been a very strong point as is evidenced by the enormously successful Indo-Persian venture,

. Their album, The Rain, was nominated for a

Grammy award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in 2004.An Evening with Shujaat Khan
University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Ethnomusicology website, Published 26 January 2024, Retrieved 11 September 2024 In January 2000, the

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

listed Shujaat Khan, along with luminaries like

Seiji Ozawa was a Japanese conductor known internationally for his work as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and especially the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), where he served from 1973 for 29 years. After cond ...

and

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

among the top 25 upcoming cultural events for the year. He has been invited as visiting faculty at the Dartington School of Music in England, the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in Seattle, and at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, Los Angeles. He is also known as a fearless collaborator, lately having done wide-ranging concerts with artists as diverse as Karsh Kale to a successful 'Jugalbandi' with pioneer Hindustani vocalist Ustad

Rashid Khan Rashid Khan Arman (; born 20 September 1998) is an Afghan international cricketer and captain of the Afghanistan national team in the T20I format. In franchise leagues, he plays for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Adelaide ...

. One of the best remembered collaborations of the year 2009-2010 happens to be Melange. Featuring

Tim Ries Timothy M. Ries (born 15 August 1959) is an American saxophonist, composer, arranger, band leader, and music educator at the collegiate/conservatory level. Ries is in his year as a professor of jazz studies at the University of Toronto. His u ...

on the saxophone,

Kevin Hays Kevin Hays (born May 1, 1968) is an American jazz pianist and composer. He began playing in New York while still at high school and led his first record date in 1990. He has recorded more than twenty albums as leader or co-leader, including thre ...

on the piano,

Karsh Kale Karsh Kale (pronounced ''Kursh Kah-lay'', ''कर्ष काळे'' in Marathi; born 1 November 1974) is an Indian-American musician born in England. Known primarily for his experimental tabla playing within electronic music contexts, Kale ...

on percussion, ''Katayoun Goudarzi'' on vocals, Ustaad Shujaat Khan on sitar, Karl Peters on bass and Yogesh Samsi on tabla, ''Melange'' (band) has toured extensively across India. Ustad Shujaat Khan has recently tied up with Inroom Records, a Mumbai-based experimental / fusion label and artist management company, to handle his collaborative work. He collaborated in 2014 on

Persian traditional music Persian traditional music or Iranian traditional music, also known as Persian classical music or Iranian classical music, refers to the classical music of Iran (historically known as '' Persia''). It consists of characteristics developed through ...

album '' Beyond Any Form''.

Discography

Shujaat Khan has over 100 musical releases on a variety of international labels; and a video called ''Khandan''. * ''Lajo lajo'' (Folk and Sufi music album, 1995) * ''Waiting for Love'' (Shujaat Khan album) (1999) * ''Shams'' (2008) Shujaat Khan (Sitar), Katayoun Goudarzi (Vocal) collaboration * Delbar (2009) Shujaat Khan (Sitar), Katayoun Goudarzi (Vocal) collaboration * Ruby (2015) Shujaat Husain Khan (Sitar), Katayoun Goudarzi (Vocal), Ajay Prasanna (Flute), Abhiman Kaushal (Tabla), Ahsan Ali (Sarangi), Prabhat Mukherjee (Santoor), Amjad Khan (Percussion) * Spring (2013) Shujaat Husain Khan (Sitar & vocal), Katayoun Goudarzi (Vocal), Ajay Prasanna (Flute), Abhiman Kaushal (Tabla) * Dawning (2013) Katayoun Goudarzi (vocal), Kevin Hays (piano), Shujaat Husain Khan (sitar, vocal), Abhiman Kaushal (tabla) & Tim Ries (tenor & soprano saxophones, bass clarinet, Hungarian folk flute)

Performances

*In the year 2020 he performed at upper Meherabad on the eve of

Meher Baba Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894 – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spirituality, spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following o ...

's 50th Amrtithi 2020.

References

External links