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Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar to perform in Gainesville Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar to perform in GainesvilleGAINESVILLE, FL - Called the "Godfather of World Music" by George Harrison, Ravi Shankar has done more for Indian music than perhaps any other musician. The legendary sitarist and composer will perform at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts Tuesday, October 14. Mr. Shankar’s daughter, Anoushka Shankar, will be joining him on stage.
Ravi Shankar is India’s most esteemed musical ambassador and a singular phenomenon whose artistry crosses all cultural and musical boundaries. A student of the illustrious guru "Baba" Ustad Allaudin Khan, Mr. Shankar was already one of the brightest stars in India before coming to international attention in the ’60s. Since then, he has been the foremost pioneer in disseminating India’s rich classical music tradition to the West. The youngest son of a Bengali family, Ravi Shankar was born in 1920 in Varansi (Benares), the holiest of Indian cities. At the age of 10, he accompanied elder brother Uday Shankar and his company of dancers and musicians to Paris, where the younger Shankar attended school. He spent several years in the West absorbing different kinds of music before returning to India in 1938 to begin his career. He combined his concert performances with his work for All India Radio (1949–56) where he established the National Chamber Orchestra. As word of his virtuosity spread throughout India, then Europe, Asia and the United States, Mr. Shankar embarked on the most extraordinary international career in the history of contemporary music. A prolific and sought-after composer, Ravi Shankar has written numerous works for Western collaborations, in addition to his many traditional ragas and talas. His Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra was commissioned and premiered by the London Symphony Orchestra under André Previn. A second sitar concerto, Raga-Mala, [A Garland of Ragas] was commissioned and premiered by the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta in 1980. Shankar’s chamber works for sitar and other instruments includes violin-sitar compositions for the distinguished violinist Yehudi Menuhin and himself, and works for flute virtuoso Jean-Pierre Rampal, shakuhachi master Hosan Yamamoto, and koto virtuoso Musumi Miyashita. Shankar has enjoyed a close relationship with Philip Glass, collaborating with the composer on the 1990 album Passages and the recent multi-artist work Orion, which opened the 2004 Cultural Olympiad in Greece. Ravi Shankar has composed extensively for film and ballet. His scores for Satyajit Ray’s acclaimed Apu trilogy raised film music to a new standard of excellence. He was nominated for both a Grammy and Oscar for his original score to Gandhi, the Academy Award-winning classic by Sir Richard Attenborough. He made history on both the British and Indian cultural scenes with the ballet Ghanashyam, which he wrote, composed and choreographed. Ravi Shankar is the recipient of many awards and honors including the Presidential Padma Vibhushan Award (1980) and the Award of Deshikottam, given by Vishawa Bharati and presented in December 1982 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He is an honorary member of the American Academy of the Arts and Letters and a recipient of 12 honorary doctorates. In 1986, he became a member of the Rajya Sabha, India’s Upper House of Parliament. He is a Fellow of the Sangeet Natak Academy and Founder President of the Research Institute for Music and the Performing Arts. In 1999, the government of India honored Ravi Shankar by awarding him its highest civilian award, the "Bharat Ratna," or "Jewel of India." In 2000, Mr. Shankar received France’s highest civilian award, the "Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur." In March 2001, the British High Commissioner and Lady Young awarded Ravi Shankar the "Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire." Ravi Shankar’s extensive discography of more than 60 albums includes Angel Records’ 1996 release In Celebration, a lavishly documented four-CD retrospective of his greatest recordings issued in honor of his 75th birthday, and the 2001 Angel release Full Circle, Carnegie Hall 2000. Full Circle, which received the Grammy Award for Best World Music Record, was Mr. Shankar’s first live-concert recording in nearly two decades. Angel/EMI continues to release Mr. Shankar’s albums, many of which were previously unavailable on CD. Mr. Shankar continues to tour each season all over the world. He divides his time between India and the United States, with regular visits to Europe and the Far East. He is the author of three books: My Music, My Life (in English), Rag Anurag (in Bengali), and Raga Mala (in English), an autobiography that was released in 1999. Anoushka Shankar is the only artist in the world to be trained completely by her father. She began studying with him at age nine, and at age 13 made her performing debut in New Delhi, India. That same year, she performed on her father’s recording, In Celebration, and shortly thereafter signed an exclusive contract with Angel/EMI. Her first solo album, Anoushka, was released in 1998 to critical acclaim. In addition to performing with her father, Anoushka spends much of her year touring, giving concert performances in Europe, America and Asia. She has also composed music for the short film Ancient Marks, and released additional albums including Rise, which was nominated for a Grammy award, and her most recent, Breathing Under Water. Anoushka has the distinction of being the first woman to ever perform at The Ramakrishna Centre in Calcutta. In 2003, she was chosen by India Times as one of its four Women of the Year. In addition to being named the "Godfather of World Music" by George Harrison, Ravi Shankar has also been given the title "Global Ambassador" by the World Economic Forum. However, there may be no greater tribute paid to this remarkable musician than the words of his colleague Yehudi Menuhin: "Ravi Shankar has brought me a precious gift and through him I have added a new dimension to my experience of music. To me, his genius and his humanity can only be compared to that of Mozart’s." Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar Tuesday, October 14, 7:30 p.m. Ticket Prices: $25-50 Web sites: To Purchase tickets, call the Phillips Center Box Office at 352-392-ARTS (2787) or 800-905-ARTS (toll-free within Florida) or call Ticketmaster at 800-277-1700 (toll-free). Tickets may also be purchased in person at the Phillips Center Box Office, the University Box Office at the University of Florida Reitz Union or from any Ticketmaster outlet, or online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/. Cash, checks, MasterCard and Visa are accepted. |
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