 Born on 1 July
1938, in Allahabad, India, Hariprasad Chaurasia began his musical training as a vocalist
under Pandit Rajaram. Within a year, he switched to flute-playing after hearing Pandit
Bholanath, a noted flautist from Varanasi. He tutored under Pandit Bholanath for eight
years and in 1957, barely out of his teens, he became a regular member of All India Radio
in Cuttack, Orissa where he worked as a performer and a composer.Hariprasad Chaurasia received further guidance from surbahar player Shrimati Annapurna Devi, daughter of the late Ustad Allaudin Khan and sister of Ali Akbar Khan. Chaurasia has been amongst the few Indian classicists who have made a conscious effort to reach out and expand the audience for classical music. As a musician, Chaurasia is a rare combination of innovator and traditionalist and has significantly expanded the expressive possibilities of classical North Indian flute playing through his masterful blowing technique and his unique adaptation of alap and jor to the flute. In 1984, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to music, he was given the National Award of the Sangeet Natak Academy. In 1992 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan and the Konarak Samman. In 1994, he was bestowed the Yash Bharati Sanman. Chaurasia tours the world regularly and has recorded with artistes like John McLaughlin to Jan Garbarek and has composed music for Indian movies like Silsila where he collaborated with Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma. Music Today Titles by Hari Prasad Chaurasia: Ragas – Morning Raga Volume 3 (A90003) with Padma
Talwalkar and Amjad Ali Khan
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