Hariprasad Chaurasia Biography In English Life Story 1938

• Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is an Indian music director and classical flute player, who plays the flute in the Hindustani classical tradition.

Hariprasad Chaurasia Biography In English

Birth Details –

Place – Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh

Date of Birth – 1 July 1938

Marital Status – Married

Nationality – Indian

Family –

Wife – Kamla Devi, Anuradha Roy

Sons – Vinay, Ajay, Rajeev

Teacher – Bholanath Prasanna

 Early Life

• Chaurasia was born in Allahabad, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. His mother died when he was six years old.
• He had to learn music without his father’s knowledge, as his father wanted him to become a wrestler.
• Chaurasia went to the akhada and trained with his father for a while, though he also began learning and practicing music at his friend’s house.

Personal Life

• Chaurasia has been married twice, first to Kamala Devi and then to Anuradha Roy. He has three sons. He has two sons Vinay and Ajay from his first wife Kamla Devi.
• With Anuradha, Chaurasia has a son named Rajeev. Chaurasia has five granddaughters and one grandson.
• His nephew Rakesh Chaurasia is also a flute player and is carrying forward the family legacy.

Career

• Chaurasia started learning singing at the age of 15 from his neighbor Rajaram. Later, he started playing flute under the tutelage of Bholanath Prasanna of Varanasi for eight years.
• He joined All India Radio, Cuttack, Odisha in 1957 and worked as a musician and performer.
• Much later, while working for All India Radio, he received guidance from Annapurna Devi, daughter of Baba Allauddin Khan.
• She agreed to teach him only if he was ready to forget everything he had learned till that time.
• Another version is that she agreed to teach him only after he decided to play left-handed rather than right-handed to show her his commitment. Anyway, Chaurasia still plays with his left hand.
• Apart from classical music, Hariprasad along with Shivkumar Sharma has formed a group called Shiv-Hari.
• The duo composed music for many popular films including Silsila and Chandni and created some hugely popular songs.
• Chaurasia’s nephew and disciple Rakesh Chaurasia is now a highly accomplished flute player, and has been performing globally with renowned maestros such as Ustad Zakir Hussain.
• He serves as the Artistic Director of the Department of World Music at the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music in the Netherlands.

• He has collaborated with several Western composers, including John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek and Ken Lauber, And Has Composed Music For Indian Films.

In Popular Culture

• The 2013 documentary film Bansuri Guru depicts Chaurasia’s life and legacy and is directed by the composer’s son Rajeev Chaurasia and produced by the Films Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.

Awards –

• 1984 – Sangeet Natak Akademi
• 1992 – Konark Samman
• 1992 – Padma Bhushan
• 1994 – Yash Bharti Award
• 2000 – Padma Vibhushan
• 2015 – Pandit Chatur Lal Excellence Award
• 2000 – Hafiz Ali Khan Award
• 2000 – Deenanath Mangeshkar Award
• 2008 – Pune Pandit Award
• 2009 – Akshay Samman
• 2022 – Ganasamradani Lata Mangeshkar Award

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