Pandit Ravi Shankar, Sitar Maestro © www.ravishankar.org

Ravi Shankar (born April 7, 1920 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India) is a Bengali-Indian musician best known for his virtuosity on the sitar. Image File history File links Sitar_Ravi_Shankar. ... Image File history File links Sitar_Ravi_Shankar. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Varanasi Varanasi (Benares) in 1922. ... Uttar Pradesh (Hindi: उत्तर प्रदेश, Urdu: اتر پردیش), also popularly known by its abbreviation UP, is the most populous and fifth largest state in the Union of India. ... Bengal, known as Bôngo (Bengali: বঙ্গ), Bangla (বাংলা), Bôngodesh (বঙ্গদেশ), or Bangladesh (বাংলাদেশ) in Bangla (Bengali), is a region in the northeast of South Asia. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... A virtuoso (from the Latin virtus meaning: skill, manliness, excellence) is an individual who possesses outstanding mechanical ability at playing a musical instrument. ... Premla Shahane playing a sitar, 1927 The sitar is a Hindustani classical instrument. ...

A disciple of Allauddin Khan (founder of the Maihar gharana of Indian classical music), Pandit Ravi Shankar is arguably the best-known Indian instrumentalist, and is well known for his pioneering work in bringing the power and appeal of the Indian classical music tradition, as well as Indian music and its performers in general, to the West. This was done through his association with The Beatles as well as with his own personal charisma. His musical career spans over six decades and Shankar currently holds the Guinness Record for the longest international career. Allauddin Khan (Bangla: ওস্তাদ আলাউদ্দীন খান, also known as Baba Allauddin Khan) (1862-1972) was an Indian classical musician and one of the greatest music teachers of the twentieth century. ... Hindustani (हिन्‍दुस्‍थानी) Classical Music is an Indian classical music tradition originating in the North of the Indian subcontinent circa the 13th and 14th centuries CE. Developing a strong and diverse tradition over several centuries, it has contemporary... A pandit or pundit(पन्दित् in Devanagari) is a Hindu Brahmin who has memorized a substantial portion of the Vedas, along with the proper rhythms and melodies for chanting or singing them. ... The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, and classical music. ... The term Western world or the West can have multiple meanings depending on its context. ... The Beatles were a British rock music group from Liverpool, England held in very high regard for both their artistic achievements and their considerable commercial success, and have amassed an enormous worldwide fanbase that continues to exist to this day. ... The Guinness Book of Records (or in recent editions Guinness World Records, and in previous US editions Guinness Book of World Records) is a book published annually, containing an internationally recognized collection of superlatives: both in terms of human achievement and the extrema of the natural world. ...

Early life

His ancestral home is the present day Kalia Upozila in Narail District, Jessore, Bangladesh. His mother's name was Hemanginee, and his elder brother Uday Shankar was a famous Indian classical dancer. As a teenager Ravi danced and played sitar with Uday Shankar's dance troupe, most notably with Anna Pavlova in the Soviet Union. Narail is a district in South-western Bangladesh. ... Jessore is a district in south western region of Bangladesh. ... Uday Shankar (1900 - 1977) is a world renowned classical dancer and choreographer from India. ... A contemporary dancer rehearsing in a dance studio Dance generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. ... Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlova (portrait by Jean Thomassen) Anna Pavlova is also the name of an Olympic gymnast. ...

Musical career

Ravi Shankar gave up a possible dance career, and starting in 1938 he spent long years of dedicated study under his guru Allaudin Khan. His first public performances in India came in 1939. Formal training ended in 1944 and he worked out of Bombay. He began writing scores for film and ballet and started a recording career with HMV's Indian affiliate. He became music director of All India Radio in the 1950s. Allauddin Khan (Bangla: ওস্তাদ আলাউদ্দীন খান, also known as Baba Allauddin Khan) (1862-1972) was an Indian classical musician and one of the greatest music teachers of the twentieth century. ... This article or section should be merged with Mumbai Mumbai (previously known as Bombay) is the worlds most populous conurbation, and is the sixth most populous agglomeration in the world. ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed. ... The Waltz of the Snowflakes from Tchaikovskys The Nutcracker Ballet is the name given to a specific dance form and technique. ... His Masters Voice, often abbreviated to HMV, is a famous trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record company. ... // Overview All India Radio (AIR for short) is the radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India), an autonomous corporation of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. ...

Shankar then became well known to the music world outside India, first performing in the Soviet Union in 1954 and then the West in 1956. He performed in major events such as the Edinburgh Festival as well as major venues such as Royal Festival Hall. The Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of performing arts that takes place in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland over three weeks around the end of August. ... The Royal Festival Hall is a concert, dance and talks venue within the South Bank Centre in London. ...

George Harrison, a member of The Beatles, began experimenting with the sitar in 1965. The two eventually met due to this common interest and became close friends, and that in turn expanded Shankar's fame as a pop star and as Harrison's mentor. This development greatly expanded his career. He was invited to play venues that were unusual for a classical musician, such as the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival in Monterey, California. He was also one of the artists who performed at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and The Concert for Bangladesh in 1971. Ravi Shankar & Friends was also the opening act for Harrison's 1974 tour of the United States. George Harold Harrison, MBE (February 25, 1943 – November 29, 2001) was a popular British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer, and film producer, best known as a member of The Beatles. ... The Beatles were a British rock music group from Liverpool, England held in very high regard for both their artistic achievements and their considerable commercial success, and have amassed an enormous worldwide fanbase that continues to exist to this day. ... Premla Shahane playing a sitar, 1927 The sitar is a Hindustani classical instrument. ... The Monterey International Pop Music Festival took place from June 16 to June 18, 1967. ... Nickname: The Cradle of History, Californias First City Motto: {{{motto}}} Official website: http://www. ... Woodstock redirects here. ... The Concert For Bangladesh was the event title for two concerts held on the afternoon and evening of August 1, 1971, playing to a total of 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York. ...

Shankar has been critical of some facets of the Western reception of Indian music. On a trip to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district after performing in Monterey, Shankar wrote "I felt offended and shocked to see India being regarded so superficially and its great culture being exploited. Yoga, Tantra, mantra, kundalini, ganja, hashish, Kama Sutra? They all became part of a cocktail that everyone seemed to be lapping up!" In 1969 he published an English language autobiography, My Music, My Life. Categories: US geography stubs | San Francisco neighborhoods ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Shankar has written two concertos for sitar and orchestra, violin-sitar compositions for Yehudi Menuhin and himself, music for flute virtuoso Jean Pierre Rampal, and music for Hozan Yamamoto, master of the shakuhachi (Japanese flute), and koto virtuoso Musumi Miyashita. He has composed extensively for films and ballets in India, Canada, Europe, and the United States, including Chappaqua, Charly, Gandhi, and the Apu Trilogy. His recording Tana Mana, released on the Private Music label in 1987, penetrated the New Age genre with its unique combination of traditional instruments with electronics. The classical composer Philip Glass acknowledges Shankar as a major influence, and the two collaborated to produce Passages, a recording of compositions in which each reworks themes composed by the other. Shankar also composed the sitar part in Glass's 2004 composition Orion. Fritz Kreisler (sitting) with Yehudi Menuhin The Right Honourable Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE (April 22, 1916. ... Jean-Pierre Rampal (January 7, 1922—May 20, 2000) was a French flute player, seen by many as the greatest of the 20th century. ... A shakuhachi, showing its utaguchi (blowing edge) and inlay The shakuhachi (尺八 in Japanese, pronounced /shakoo-hatchee/) is a Japanese end-blown flute which is held vertically like a recorder instead of being held transversely like the familiar Western transverse flute. ... Masayo Ishigure plays the koto The koto (Japanese: 箏) is a traditional stringed musical instrument from Japan resembling a zither. ... Chappaqua is a trippy cult film of 1966, directed by and starring Conrad Rooks. ... Categories: Movie stubs | 1968 films | Science fiction films | Best Actor Oscar (film) ... Gandhi (1982) is an Anglo-Indian film, directed by Richard Attenborough, about the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (also known as Mahatma Gandhi, Great Soul), leader of the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. ... The Apu trilogy is a series of three films directed by the late director Satyajit Ray, who won an Oscar for lifetime achievement in 1992. ... Private Music is a subsidiary record label of BMG. See also List of record labels Categories: Record labels | Stub ... New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ... Philip Glass looks upon sheet music in a portrait taken by Annie Leibovitz. ...

Family life

Known for his charisma and his charm with women, Ravi Shankar first married Annapurna, daughter of his guru Baba Allauddin Khan and sister of Ali Akbar Khan in Almora, but the marriage did not last long. The marriage produced one son named Shuva Shankar. Allauddin Khan (Bangla: ওস্তাদ আলাউদ্দীন খান, also known as Baba Allauddin Khan) (1862-1972) was a Indian classical musician and one of the greatest music teachers of the twentieth century. ... Ali Akbar Khan (born April 14, 1922) is one of todays most accomplished Indian classical musicians and known for his mastery of the sarod, a beautiful, 25-stringed Indian instrument. ... Almora is the cultural and geographic centre the Kumaun region, approximately 80km north of the railhead at Kathgodam. ...

He became involved with American concert promoter Sue Jones but they did not marry. Their union, however, produced one daughter, the recent Grammy winner Norah Jones. He later married an admirer, Sukanya Kotiyan (née Rajan) and their marriage produced a second daughter named Anoushka Shankar. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Anoushka Shankar Anoushka Shankar (b. ...

Shankar's daughters Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones are also musicians. Anoushka is a sitarist and performs frequently with Shankar, in addition to having her own recording career. Jones has achieved considerable professional success, including several Grammy Awards, by herself with no assistance from her father. Shankar is also the uncle of the late sitarist Ananda Shankar. Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (originally the Gramophone Awards), presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards... Ananda Shankar (11 December 1942 - 26 March,1999) was an Indian musician specialising in the fusion of Western and Eastern musical styles. ...

Shankar has homes in both Encinitas, California and New Delhi, India. Location Location of Encinitas within San Diego County, California. ... Culture Tourist Attractions Delhi offers a multitude of interesting places and attractions to the visitor, so much so that it becomes difficult to decide from where to begin exploring the city. ...

Honours

Shankar is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and is a member of the United Nations International Rostrum of Composers. He has received many awards and honours from his own country and from all over the world, including fourteen honorary doctorates, the Padma Vibhushan, Desikottam, the Magsaysay Award from Manila, two Grammy Awards, the Fukuoka Grand Prize from Japan, and the Crystal Award from Davos, with the title "Global Ambassador", to name but some. In 1986 he was nominated to be a member of the Rajya Sabha, India's upper house of Parliament, for six years. In 2002, he was conferred the inaugural Indian Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award. The Bharat Ratna was awarded to him in 1999. American Academy of Arts and Letters is an organization whose goal is to foster, assist, and sustain an interest in American literature, music, and art. ... The United Nations (UN) is an international organization that describes itself as a global association of governments facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, and social equity. ... An Honorary degree (Latin: honoris causa ad gradum) is a degree awarded to someone by an institution that he or she may have never attended, it may be a bachelors, masters or doctorate degree - however, the latter is most common. ... The Padma Vibhushan is Indias second highest civilian honour. ... The Magsaysay award is given in honor of the late President of the Philippines Ramon Magsaysay. ... Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (originally the Gramophone Awards), presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards... Executive President Vice-President Prime Minister Dy. ... Bharat Ratna is Indias highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees of national service. ...

Films

• Raga (1971). Directed by Howard Worth.
• The Concert for Bangladesh (1972).

The Concert For Bangladesh was the event title for two concerts held on the afternoon and evening of August 1, 1971, playing to a total of 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York. ...

Discography

External links

• Ravi Shankar Official Website
• Audio excerpts from a 2000 interview for the BBC
• Ravi Shankar Interview
• Stream and interview of his 80th birthday
• EMI Biography
• Lycos Profile
• Guiness Record for longest International Career