Point Out ART & CULTURE THE BANSURI GURU Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia 50 april 2014
As a musician Pandit Chaurasia is a rare combination of an innovator and a traditionalist. He has significantly expanded the expressive possibilities of classical North Indian flute- playing through his masterful blowing technique and his unique adaptation of alaap and jod to the flute. »» aarti Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, an acclaimed flautist, is a very popular and eminent artiste who is known for popularizing Indian classical music globally. His consummate artistry has distinguished him as the greatest living master of the Bamboo Flute, acclaimed both at home and abroad. Unlike many other great Indian artistes, Pandit Chaurasia does not come from a family of musicians rather, music is a path he found for himself. Born on July 1, 1938 in Allahabad, he began his musical pursuit at the age of 15, learning classical vocal technique from Pandit Rajaram. Within a year, however, he had switched to flute recital, after hearing Pandit Bholanath, a noted flautist from Varanasi. He mastered his skills under Pandit Bholanath for eight years. In 1957, barely out of his teens, he became regular staff artiste of All India Radio, Cuttack in Orissa, where he worked as performer as well as a composer. From here began his musical journey that took him all over the globe. Transferred by AIR (All India Radio) Cuttack to Mumbai in 1960, he received further guidance from Surbahar player Shrimati Annapurna Devi, daughter of late Ustad Allaudin Khan and sister of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Under her guidance his music acquired a new dimension and he left AIR to pursue his performing career. Since then 51 Pandit Chaurasia has been performing nationally and internationally winning acclaim from varied audiences and from fellow musicians like Yehudi Menuhin, Jean-Pierre Rampal, among others. He tours regularly in the US and Europe and is a featured artiste in almost all major music festivals around the globe. As a musician Pandit Chaurasia is a rare combination of an innovator and a traditionalist. He has significantly expanded the expressive possibilities of classical North Indian flute- playing through his masterful blowing technique and his unique adaptation of alaap and jod to the flute. He is an immensely popular artiste in India and abroad. He has composed music for many Indian films. The famous “Silsila” which he collaborated on with Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma was a platinum disc in India, Unlike many other great Indian artistes, Pandit Chaurasia does not come from a family of musicians rather, music is a path he found for himself. and the musical duo Shiv-Hari went on to compose soulful music for many successful movies like Lamhe, Chandni, Faasle, Parampara, Sahibaan and Darr. His experimental album “Eternity” which incorporated many western elements alongside North Indian Classical ones became a platinum disc. He has also shared stage with eminent artistes from all over the world. He has performed memorable jugalbandis with the stalwarts of Indian Classical music like Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Dr. Balamuralikrishnan, Kishori Amonkar and jammed with western artistes like John Mc Laughlin, Jan Garbarek, Larry Coryell, Egberto Gismonti and many others. He has conducted orchestras with western instrumentalists also amongst which is ‘Adi Anant’. For his outstanding contributions to Indian music, Pandit Chaurasia has been recognized and conferred upon with many national and International honours the Padma Bhushan-1992, Konark Samman-1992, Yash Bharti Samman-1994, Kalidas Samman-1999 and The Sangeet Natak Academy Award-1984 among many.
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