HINDUSTANI CLASSICAL MUSIC

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia

Born on 1 July 1938, in Allahabad, India, Hariprasad Chaurasia began his musical training as a vocalist under Pandit Rajaram. Within a year, he switched to flute-playing after hearing Pandit Bholanath, a noted flautist from Varanasi. He tutored under Pandit Bholanath for eight years and in 1957, barely out of his teens, he became a regular member of All India Radio in Cuttack, Orissa where he worked as a performer and a composer.

Hariprasad Chaurasia's God gifted talent and his consummate artistry has distinguished him as the greatest living master of the Indian flute today.

Hariprasad Chaurasia's appearance on the concert platform brought him instant acclaim all over India which was soon followed by invitations from music festivals in Iran, Europe and the USA, where he reaped a rich harvest of rewards.

Back home in 1984, he was given the National Award of the Sangeet Natak Academy in recognition of his outstanding contributions to music and later in 1990 he won the Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar. In 1992 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan and the Konarak Samman. In 1994, he was bestowed the Yash Bharati Sanman.

Hariprasad Chaurasia has been amongst the few Indian classicists who have made a conscious effort to reach out and expand the audience for classical music. As a musician, Hariprasad Chaurasia is a rare combination of innovator and traditionalist and has significantly expanded the expressive possibilities of classical North Indian flute playing through his masterful blowing technique and his unique adaptation of alap and jor to the flute.