The internationally acclaimed Bansuri player, Pandit
Hariprasad Chaurasia, was born on July 1, 1938 in Allahabad. A maestro
of the North Indian bamboo flute, he is an instrumentalist, who has made
an immense effort to reach the audience and make them fall in love with
the Indian classical music. In this article, we have provided you with
the biography of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia that will give you a
valuable insight into the life history of this wonderful flute player.
Life History
At a tender age of 4, Hariprasad Chaurasia lost his mother. His father
being a wrestler wanted his son to take interest in wrestling. However,
Hariprasad had an inclination for music. Therefore, he learnt music in
secrecy and used to practice at one of his friend's place. His father
made him join wrestling classes, despite the fact that he wasn't
interested. However, it was like a gain in disguise as wrestling helped
him build stamina, which in turn helped him a great deal in playing
flute, as this art requires high energy levels.
At the age of 15, he began learning music from one of his neighbors Pt.
Rajaram. During the later stage of his life, he started playing flute
under the guidance of Pt. Bholanath of Varanasi. He took up a job in All
India Radio, where he got the opportunity to learn music from Smt.
Annapurna Devi, the daughter of Baba Allaudin Khan. For his complete
control over the flute and the skillful blowing technique, he is admired
all over the world.
Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia has given amazing performances throughout the
world. He has worked in close association with several world renowned
musicians and given varied kind of performances. Presently, he is
serving as the Artistic Director of the World Music Department at the
Rotterdam Music Conservatory in the Netherlands. He has composed music
for numerous Bollywood films such as Lamhe, Faasale, Chandni, Silsila,
Darr etc. For his commendable job, he has received many accolades
including the Sangeet Natak Academy award, Padma Bhushan, Padma
Vibhushan, Yash Bharati Sanman and many more.
 |
Music of India |
