Anoushka Shankar

Anoushka Shankar is a British-American sitar player born in London on 9 June 1981, the daughter of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar and Sukanya Rajan. She began studying sitar under her father's intensive tutelage at age nine, learning the improvisatory tradition of the Maihar gharana passed down through generations from Baba Allauddin Khan. She made her professional concert debut at thirteen and signed her first record deal at sixteen. Across seven solo studio albums beginning with Anoushka (1998), she has explored both classical and contemporary styles, collaborating with artists including Sting, Herbie Hancock, and Karsh Kale. She has received fourteen Grammy Award nominations and was the first musician of Indian origin to perform live and present at the ceremony. Beyond performance, she has scored films including the BFI restoration of Shiraz: A Romance of India (2017) and serves as an ambassador for the UNHCR and Choose Love.