Ustad Wajahat Khan

A member of one of India's most influential musical families, Wajahat Khan is the son of Ustad Imrat Khan, and the nephew of Ustad Vilayat Khan. The first sarod player in his family's seven generations of musicians, Khan has played a major role in the evolution of the instrument by adapting the techniques of the surbahad to the sarod. While The Independant on Sunday of London wrote, "(Khan's) virtuosity on the sarod can be taken for granted. Equally impressive is his mellow, lyrical, playing and its teasing wit," The Manchester Guardian reviewed a performance by Khan by writing, "the main novelty in style that emerged here was the exquisitely expressive vocal style that involved many subtle inflections of pitch and tack." The South China Morning Post took a similar view, explaining, "this was music at its most spontaneous, vibrant and sensual. At times, the brilliant flights of fingers and feelings had one sitting almost at the edge of one's seat." Taught classical singing from the age of three, Khan began playing the sarod soon afterward. He performed his debut European concert in 1977. In the two decades since, he divided his time between the West and India, spending his winters in Calcutta and Bombay. Khan toured the United Kingdom and Europe with a multicultural group that featured flamenco guitarist Eduardo Niebla. Khan attracted considerable attention as a composer. In 1991, he was the featured soloist for the world premier of his concerto, "Poem in Raag Khammaj for Symphony Orchestra and Sarod." Six years later, he formed the 50-piece Wajahat Khan Indian Chamber Orchestra for the premier performance of his composition, "Garland of Tributes," at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Summer 2000 saw the release of Raag Desh.
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