Amjad Ali Khan

Born on 9 October 1945 in Gwalior as Masoom Ali Khan, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is the youngest of seven children of the revered court musician Hafiz Ali Khan and Rahat Jahan. His family belongs to the Bangash lineage of the Senia Gharana, tracing their musical heritage back six generations to musicians who migrated from Afghanistan and adapted the Afghan rabab into the modern sarod. Khan gave his first public sarod recital at the age of six under his father's guidance. After the family relocated to Delhi in 1957, he attended Modern School while maintaining intensive musical training, and delivered his first major solo performance at age twelve.

Khan's international career began in 1963 with his debut in the United States. In 1971, he became the first sarod player to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York, and in 1981, the first Indian classical musician to perform in Pakistan following decades of limited cultural exchange after Partition. He revolutionized sarod technique through his signature clear and fast ekhara taans and the innovative use of fingernails rather than fingertips to stop strings. He has composed several original ragas including Amiri Todi, Shivanjali, and Kiran Ranjani, and was the first non-Western musician to receive a residency at London's Wigmore Hall.

His career is marked by extraordinary cross-cultural collaborations. He has performed with tabla masters Zakir Hussain and Alla Rakha, shehnai legend Bismillah Khan, and classical guitarist Sharon Isbin. His orchestral work Samaagam premiered with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in 2008. In 2014, he performed "Raga for Peace" at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo alongside his sons, dedicating the performance to laureates Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai.

Khan has received India's three highest civilian honors: Padma Shri (1975), Padma Bhushan (1991), and Padma Vibhushan (2001). Additional honors include the UNESCO Award, the UNICEF National Ambassador designation, the World Economic Forum Crystal Award, and the French Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (2003). He married Subhalakshmi Barua, a bharatanatyam dancer, in 1976, and their sons Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash represent the seventh generation of the family's musical legacy.