Caravan World Rhythms is excited to present an Indian Classical music concert by two world renowned musicians: sitar maestro Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan and tabla maestro Pandit Anindo Chatterjee. The on-stage chemistry between these musical virtuosos is simply electrifying and their performances always take Indian Classical music to new heights. Join the many passionate fans of these two living legends of India for an inspiring and memorable evening of music.
Ustad Shahid Parvez is considered to be one of the foremost musicians in India. He has been acknowledged by both Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan as one of the finest sitar players alive, and the torchbearer for the current generation. Ustad Shahid Parvez’s dazzling virtuosity and innovative genius have earned him a legacy as a giant of the sitar. By way of sheer precision and an astute artistic sense, he has made for himself a place in the limitless, infinite universe of Indian classical music. Parvez learned his craft from his father, Ustad Aziz Khan, and enjoys an impeccable pedigree. He is a seventh generation heir to the sitar’s first family, the Etawah Gharana.
Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan sums up his mastery of this most intricate art form with a profoundly simple philosophy: “music is my life”. For Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan, the Sitar and Self are identical entities, and music is not just a discipline but life itself – vibrating and pulsating and full of colour.
The power of his music is most immediately encountered in the highly charged sound he conjures from his Sitar and the sparkling intelligence that is the hallmark of his improvisations. As the Rajasthan Patrika once said – “After listening to Ustad Shahid Parvez, the future of Sitar is still bright after Pandit Ravi Shankar.”
Accompanying Parvez, is one of the world’s greatest tabla players, Anindo Chatterjee, gifted with an ability to summon crystal-clear melodies from his drums. The director of the Farrukhabad Gharana of Tabla, founded by Haji Vilayat Khan Saheb, Chatterjee continues to give new voice to his instrument.
Anindo Chatterjee is recognized as one of India’s most eminent tabla players. He was inspired to take up tabla by his uncle, the sitar player Pandit Biswanath Chatterjee, when he was just four years old. At five he was All India Radio’s youngest artist. Anindo has a seemingly endless list of achievements: In 1990 he became the first tabla player to perform in the House of Commons. In 2003 the President of India crowned him with the prestigious sangeet natak akademi award. The All India Critics Association adjudged him as the ‘Best Performer of the Year 1997’ and at the tender age of 16, The Government of India recognized his prodigious talent by awarding him the ‘gold medal’ in the All India Radio Music Competition. His ability to seamlessly blend in with the musician he is accompanying has brought him to share the stage with Pandit. Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan,Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma to name only those who are the pillars on which Indian Classical Music today rests.