About Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia

An internationally acclaimed flautist, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia is a very popular and eminent artist who is recognized for his outstanding contribution in popularizing Indian art music throughout the world. Highly acclaimed both in India and abroad, his consummate artistry has distinguished him as the greatest living master of the bansuri, the North Indian bamboo flute.

Unlike many other great Indian artists, Pt. Chaurasia does not come from a family of musicians. Born on July 1, 1938 in Allahabad, he began his musical pursuit at the age of fifteen when he began learning vocal technique from Pt. Rajaram. Within a year, however, he had switched to playing the bansuri, after hearing Pt. Bholanath, a noted flautist from Varanasi, whom he then studied under for eight years In 1957, barely out of his teens, he became a regular staff member of All India Radio in Cuttack, Orissa, where he worked both as a performer and music composer.

He was transferred by All India Radio to Bombay in 1962. He received further guidance from surbahar player Annapurna Devi, the daughter of the late Ustad Allaudin Khan and the sister of Ali Akbar Khan. Under her guidance his music acquired a new depth, characteristic of the Maihar gharana. He left All India Radio in 1965 to pursue his performing career.

Pt. Chaurasia has since performed throughout the world winning acclaim from varied audiences and fellow musicians including Yehudi Menuhin and Jean Pierre Rampal. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to music, he was given the National award of the Sangeet Natak Academy in 1984. Touring regularly in the US and Europe, he was also a featured artist in the US Festival of India in 1985. Among his many awards, in 1992, he was the first flautist in Indian history to be awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's most prestigious award recognizing excellence in arts. During his eventful performing career, he has made numerous recordings of North Indian art music.

As a musician, Pt. Chaurasia is a rare combination of innovator and traditionalist. He has significantly expanded the expressive possibilities of the classical North Indian flute playing through his masterful blowing technique and unique adaptation of jod and jhala to the flute. Immensely popular in India, he is among a few but growing classicists who have made a conscious effort to reach out and expand the audience for art music.

Pt. Chaurasia's musical repertoire also extends beyond North Indian art music to Indian folk, Indian popular music and western music. He has composed music for many Indian films including 'Silsila' which, in collaboration with Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, was a platinum disc in India. Equally impressive was his experimental album 'Eternity' which incorporated many western elements alongside North Indian art music. In the late 1990s, he has also collaborated with Western artists like John Mclaughlin and Jan Garbarek, adding to his international appeal and widespread popularity.

In addition to his performance and composition, Pt. Chaurasia is a dedicated teacher with several devoted art music students throughout the world who are beginning to make their mark on the concert stage. He also dedicates five months of the year at the Rotterdam World Music Conservatory where he chairs the Indian Music Department. When not on the road, he resides in Bombay.