Sarod Recital By Ustad Amjad Ali Khan & Sons

Someone is coming to Chowmohalla Palace today. And he'd have been invited at any time in its existence.

The Times Hyderabad Festival is back this year with 9 days of music and art. The festival will see some renowned musicians, dancers and singers, like Ustad Amjad Ali Khan on the inaugural day, Sonu Nigam on 1st April, and Vani Ganapathy, Ghulam Ali Khan and Ehsan Bharti Ghungroo Wale on 6th April. There are also a fashion show by Vinita Pittie and Neeta Lulla on 7th April, and renowned plays Dance Like A Man by Mahesh Dattani on 7th April and The Vagina Monologues by Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal on 8th April. In addition, there will be carnivals at Eat Street on 31st April and at Hyderabad Central on 7th & 8th April, and cooking classes at Taj Krishna, Novotel, ITC Kakatiya, Mainland China, Taj Banjara and Touch from 2nd to 6th April.

Today, the inaugural day, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan will perform a grand sarod recital, along with his sons Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan, at the Chowmohalla Palace.

Amjad Ali Khan was born to the illustrious Bangash lineage rooted in the Senia Bangash School of music. Taught by his father Haafiz Ali Khan, a musician to the royal family of Gwalior, he today shoulders the 6th generation inheritance of this legendary lineage.

After having given his first recital of the sarod at the age of 6, Ustad went on to give some memorable performances at the WOMAD Festival in Adelaide and in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand; the WOMAD Rivermead Festival in UK; the Edinburgh Music Festival; the World Beat Festival in Brisbane; the Summer Arts Festival in Seattle; the International Poets Festival in Rome; the UNESCO; the Hong Kong Arts Festival; the Adelaide Music Festival; the 1,200 Years Celebration of Frankfurt; and Schonbrunn in Vienna.

Amjad Ali Khan has the privilege of winning the kind of honors and citations at his relatively young age which for many other artistes would take a lifetime. He is a recipient of the UNESCO Award, the Padma Vibhushan and the UNICEF's National Ambassadorship, to name a few. He has also been conferred upon, the Forum and Honorary Doctorates from the University of York (England), the Delhi University and the Vishva Bharti University (Shantiniketan), and the Commander Of The Order Of Arts And Letters by the French Government.

Two books have been written on him - "The World Of Amjad Ali Khan" by UBS Publishers in 1995, and "Abba - God’s Greatest Gift To Us" by his sons Amaan and Ayaan. A documentary on the Ustad called Strings For Freedom won the Bengal Film Journalist Association Award and was also screened at the Ankara Film Festival in 1996.

Amaan Ali Khan, the elder son, and Ayaan Ali Khan, the younger, are disciples of Amjad Ali Khan, and the 7th generation in an unbroken chain of the Senia Bangash School. Like his father, they were initiated into the fine art of sarod-playing at a very tender age, and began their public performances as early as 8.

Performing together and solo, and also accompanying their father to various music festivals in India and abroad, they have today carved out a niche for themselves. They have performed at the Palais Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Esplanade in Singapore, the Chicago Symphony Center, the Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center in USA, the Royal Festival Hall and the Barbican Center in UK, the Temenos Academy at St James Palace in London for the Prince of Wales, the Summer Arts Festival in Seattle, the Edinburgh Festival in UK, the World Beat Festival in Brisbane, the Opera House in Sydney and the WOMAD Festival in New Plymouth and Adelaide. They have performed with Cellist Matthew Barley and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain in July 2002.

The entry to the concert is by invitations, available at The Times Of India office, Planet M and Walden outlets. For further details, please contact 2335-5335.