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Wajahat Khan

Wajahat Khan
Origin Calcutta, India
Occupation(s) Indian Classical musician
Instruments Sarod
Years active 1977–present
Labels Nimbus Records, Navras Records, Sony India, Hyperion Records, Koch Schwann, Koch International, Audiorec Classics
Website wajahatkhan.com

Wajahat Khan (also known as Vajahat Khan; IAST: Wajāhat Khān, Hindi: वजाहत ख़ान, Bengali: ওয়াজাহাত খান, Urdu: خان وجاہت,) is an Indian sarod player and composer who has earned international acclaim since 1977. He is the third son and disciple of sitar and surbahar player Imrat Khan, nephew of sitar player Vilayat Khan and a member of India's illustrious multi-generational musical Khan family which founded the Imdadkhani Gharana . He was born in the mid-1960s in Calcutta, India and now divides his time between London and India.

Khan started his training in singing, sitar and surbahar from the age of 3, and his professional career in music as a child prodigy singer touring the world at a young age, including a performance on BBC Television in 1977. In his early teens, he decided to specialise in sarod, marking an interesting departure from his family's traditional instruments of sitar and surbahar.

He has performed extensively around the world, touring in the Indian sub-continent, UK, Europe, Scandinavia, USA, former USSR, Africa, Middle-East, South-East Asia and the Far-East. His performances at prestigious venues and festivals include the Kremlin in Moscow, the Acropolis of Athens, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., Symphony Space in New York, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Playhouse Theatre in Durban, the Glastonbury Festival and the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms Festival in the UK.

Whilst mainly focussing on performing traditional Indian classical music, he has also ventured into crossover as a distinguished composer, having written pioneering works for Indian as well as Western instruments and ensembles, including three sarod concertos for symphony and chamber orchestras and quintets for sarod and string quartets. In 1991 he wrote and performed his first sarod concerto in Germany and has since performed with renowned international orchestras and ensembles such as the London Sinfonietta and Halle Symphony Orchestra (UK), Cape Philharmonic and KwaZulu Natal Symphony Orchestra (South Africa) and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. In 1997 he composed for and recorded his first quartet for sarod and string quartet with the Medici String Quartet, and has since performed with leading quartets such as the Carducci String Quartet, Ciurlionis String Quartet, and the Allegri String Quartet. He has toured internationally on several occasions with his Wajahat Khan World Music Ensemble, which includes the renowned flamenco/jazz guitarist Eduardo Niebla.


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