Hariprasad Chaurasia

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia
Hariprasad Chaurasia at Bhubaneswar, 2015
Background information
Born	(1938-07-01) 1 July 1938 (age 78) Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
Genres	Hindustani classical music, film score
Occupation(s)	Flutist, composer
Instruments	Bansuri
Years active	1957-
Associated acts	Shivkumar Sharma, Brij Bhushan Kabra, Zakir Hussain, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek
Website	hariprasadchaurasia.com
Notable instruments
Bansuri

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian classical flutist.

He plays in the North Indian tradition.

Chaurasia was born in Allahabad in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. His father was a wrestler. His mother died when he was 6. He had to learn music without his father's knowledge, for his father wanted him to become a wrestler. He did go to the Akhada and train with his father for some time, although he also started learning music and practising at his friend's house. He has stated,

I was not any good at wrestling. I went there only to please my father. But maybe because of the strength and stamina I built up then, I'm able to play the bansuri even to this day.

Chaurasia started learning vocal music from his neighbour, Pandit Rajaram, at the age of 15. Later, he switched to playing the flute under the tutelage of Pandit Bholanath Prasanna of Varanasi for eight years. He joined the All India Radio, Cuttack, Odisha in 1957 and worked as a composer and performer. Much later, while working for All India Radio, he received guidance from the reclusive Annapurna Devi, daughter of Baba Allaudin Khan. She only agreed to teach him if he was willing to unlearn all that he had learnt until then (so as to start over free from any pre-existing errement). Another version is that she only agreed to teach him after he (of his own) took the decision to switch from right-handed to left-handed playing to show her his commitment. In any case Chaurasia plays left-handed to this day.

Apart from classical music, he has made a mark as a music director for Indian films along with Shivkumar Sharma, forming a group called Shiv-Hari. He has collaborated with world musicians in experimental cross-cultural performances, including the fusion group Shakti.