 RAKESH CHAURASIA - Continuing The Chaurasia Tradition
A famous name attached to this musician; young Rakesh is the nephew and child prodigy of flute maestro Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia. The most accomplished of disciples of his uncle, he shows all the promise to carry the Chaurasia legacy to new heights.
Just like his legendary uncle, Rakesh possesses the right balance of strength and serenity, very critical factors for an exceptional flautist. His dextrous blowing technique coupled with his training of ‘swar’ and ‘tala’ exudes adeptly in his emotions through the hollow piece of bamboo. Rakesh has already globe trotted many times over, enthralling audiences at classical and semi-classical concerts in Japan, Australia, Europe, South Africa and USA. He is also an accomplished musician having recorded with most of the leading stalwarts of the Indian film industry. He was invited to conclude the twenty-four hour live music broadcast to a worldwide audience on the BBC radio celebrating Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee.
Despite his experimental work, Rakesh has never deviated from his main goal of becoming a full-fledged classical musician. He has regularly appeared in prominent festivals like WOMAD festival in Athens, ‘Festivals of India’ in Russia, Japan, USA and Europe. His growing maturity and status has brought him invitations to perform solo at major events within India and abroad such as the Festival of Saint-Denis in Paris, Leicester International Music Festival in England, “Anubhuti” in Mumbai where history was made when, for the first time ever, Rakesh, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and his son, Rahul, all performed together on stage accompanied by the legendary Ustad Zakir Hussain.
Modest Rakesh is the first to admit that he has a lot to learn, not just from his legendary uncle and maestro, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia but his peers too. He is indeed, destined to carve a niche for himself in the realm of Indian Classical Music with the simple yet extremely difficult to play bamboo flute, the Bansuri. |
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