Ali Akbar Khan
Ali Akbar Khan (born
April 14,
1922) is one of today's most accomplished
Indian classical musicians and known for his mastery of the
sarod, a 25-stringed Indian instrument.
Ali Akbar Khan's family traces its
gharana (ancestral tradition) to
Tansen, a 16th century musical genius and court musician of Emperor
Akbar. Ali Akbar Khan's father, the late
Padma Vibhushan Acharya
Allauddin Khan, was acknowledged as one of the greatest
Hindustani musicians of the 20th century.
Born on
14 April 1922 in
Shibpur,
Bengal,
British India (now in
Bangladesh). Ali Akbar Khan began his studies in music at the age of three. He studied vocal music from his father and drums from his uncle, Fakir Aftabuddin. His father also trained him on several other instruments, but decided finally that he must concentrate on sarod and vocal.
In
1956, he founded the
1967 the
Ali Akbar College of Music in
Calcutta. In
1967, he founded another school of the same name in
Berkeley, California; it moved to its present location in
San Rafael, California a year later. In
1985 he founded another school in
Basel,
Switzerland.
In
1997 he received the
National Endowment for the Arts' prestigious
National Heritage Fellowship, the United States' highest honor in the traditional arts.
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Ali Akbar College of Music
