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WAJAHAT KHAN

SAROD MAESTRO

Ustad Wajahat Khan is one of the most outstanding sarod maestros of India today. Based in Calcutta and London, he has performed to great acclaim in over 40 countries worldwide, with a growing reputation as an exceptional world-ranking Indian classical musician of his generation. Son and nephew of the legendary sitar maestros Ustad Imrat Khan and late Ustad Vilayat Khan respectively, he belongs to one of the oldest and most revered musical families of the world, which goes back 400 years through a line of celebrated musicians to the courts of 16th century India and whose lasting contributions have profoundly influenced and shaped the course of north Indian instrumental music up to the present day.

Wajahat Khan started his training under his father from the age of 3 studying singing, sitar and surbahar in his family’s tradition, and later the sarod. He started his musical career as a child prodigy vocalist, but soon in his early teens he went on to become the first sarod player in this eminent family. Performances at prestigious venues include the Smithsonian (Washington DC), Symphony Hall (Berlin), Suntori Hall (Tokyo) and the Royal Albert Hall (BBC Proms in London). He is also an accomplished composer and educationalist, having performed pioneering collaborations in Indian as well as Western classical, jazz, flamenco, rock and opera including 3 sarod concertos and an award winning quintet for sarod and string quartet. With revolutionary contributions to the art of sarod playing, he has energised it's performance repertoire with his distinctive style and virtuoso technique acquiring international acclaim and appraisal in the Indian sub-continent, UK, Europe, Scandinavia, USA, former USSR, Africa, South-East Asia and the Far-East. For some of his career highlights please see international career..

Wajahat Khan's distinctive Style on the Sarod

Even though several renowned sarod players have trained under his musical dynasty, Wajahat Khan is the first member of this illustrious family of sitar and surbahar players to take up the sarod. He has brought to the sarod the intricate and fluid styles evolved and popularised by generations of his family, including his pioneering adaptation of the four-string technique of the surbahar to the sarod, and interweaves a wide spectrum of dhrupad, khyal and thumri forms of the vocal tradition, with the authentic sarod baaj (instrumental repertoire). He has added a fifth melody string in the bass register and uniquely uses seven pegs, instead of the conventional six or eight pegs that are used by other contemporary sarod masters Continue.

Examples:

Live Performance

In an age where music is increasingly influenced and made with the aid of computers, Wajahat Khan's live performances are an unforgettable experience of great depth and musicianship of the highest level, rarely found in live performance today. See Recordings for more examples.

Solo Sarod excerpts

Vocal, Sarod, Tabla

Wajahat’s Khan’s Sarod Style

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Wajahat Khan's distinctive Style on the Sarod

Live Performance

The Performing Musician