Anoushka Shankar

“Ravi Shankar has said he is waiting for the day when he will be known as Anoushka’s father; he may not have long to wait.” -Boston Globe

 

One of the most popular sitar players of her generation, Shankar is second in stature only to her father, Ravi. Like the elder Shankar, Anoushka has taken classical Indian music to Western audiences in new and exciting ways, and is finding ways to meld Eastern and Western music that were previously unthinkable.

Born in New Dehli, Anoushka began studying the sitar with her father at age nine. At 13 she made her performance and recording debuts in New Delhi. Her third recording, Live at Carnegie Hall (2001), garnered her first Grammy nomination, making her the youngest-ever nominee in the World Music category. Not satisfied with simply being a classical performer, she began looking for ways to incorporate the music of her personal life into her performances: electronica, pop, and even Western classical music. Collaborating with Karsh Kale, an Indian-American multi-instrumentalist with a similar passion, she expanded on this vision on 2007′s Breathing Under Water. Featuring electronic textures, a string orchestra, and even vocals in English (from her half-sister Norah Jones and Sting), critics were unanimous in their praise.

The artists she has appeared with read like a who’s who of the music world: Eric Clapton, Joshua Bell, Mitislav Rostropovich, Lenny Kravitz and many more. Shankar continues to reach for the boundaries of Indian and Western music with each project she undertakes.

• Anoushka performs with Joshua Bell in 2007

• and with her father Ravi

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