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Hariprasad Chaurasia
Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is famous for playing flute which is also called as bansuri. He was born on 1st July 1938 and his passion for classical music has made him the most renowned instrumentalist. With his beautiful music he has been able to create magic in the minds of people such that many of them have become fond of it. Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is not only popular in India but also in other nations where his performance is very much appreciated b the audiences. His performances are so heartwarming that people really love him as a classical instrumentalist and also as a flute player. He is definitely the most reputed of all classical musicians who has given a global platform to Indian classical music.
Biography
Hariprasad Chaurasia is said to be born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. His mother died every son at an age of 6 and then his father brought him up who was a wrestler. His attraction towards music leads him to learn music but as his father did not like it, he had to tell a lie. On being pursued by his father he went to Akhada with him but had no interest. He therefore decided to learn music at his friend’s house which was the best option. He always felt that wrestling gave him the stamina to play flute beautifully and without losing hope.
“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.”
Hariprasad Chaurasia married an Odissi vocalist known as Anuradha who was her second wife. His son Rajiv comes from second wife while Vinay and Ajay are from Kamla Chaurasia who is the first wife.
Career
Hariprasad Chaurasia had immense love for music therefore he started practicing with the help of his neighbor Pandit Rajaram. At that time he was only 15. After then he started playing flute under the guidance of Pandit Bholanath Prasanna who lived in Varanasi. In the year 1957 he joined All India Radio, Cuttack, Orissa as a composer as well as a performer. While working there he obtained lots of help from Annapurna Devi, daughter of Baba Allaudin Khan who started teaching him classical music. Initially he was a right handed player but then he played with his left hand. As a commitment towards music she had asked him to do so and Hariprasad Chaurasia was ready to pay anything for it.
Hariprasad Chaurasia is known for his excellent skills in innovating music and also starting a new tradition too. Bansuri which was a rarely played instrument in that time became popular and people started enjoying the composition of Hariprasad Chaurasia.
Though music was his passion but he also did some Indian films while working Pt. Shivkumar Sharma who was the active member of group Shiv-Hari. He formed a fusion group called as Shakti and collaborated with a number of world level musicians and performed in many shows.
There are several achievements in his career. Firstly he is the artistic director of World Music Department at the Rotterdam Music Conservatory in the Netherlands. He founded two institutes Vrindavan Gurukul in Mumbai (opened 2006) and Vrindavan Gurukul in Bhubhaneshwar (opened 2010) where students could come and get training in playing bansuri. He was a very good teacher and his students respected him very much. Some of his students are Himanshu Nanda, Rupak Kulkarni, Sameer Rao, Rakesh Chaurasia (nephew), Jay Gandhi, Vivek Sonar and Santosh Sant.
Hariprasad Chaurasia collaborated with many western musicians like Jan Garbarek, John McLaughlin etc who have also contributed to the Indian film music. His performances have been all around the world and everyone has applauded him for his knowledge and wonderful playin. Reputed people like Yehudi Menuhin and Jean-Pierre Rampal have also appreciated hs performances.