Sitarist and composer Pandit Ravi Shankar’s birth centenary fell on 7 April 2020 but the celebrations were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His daughter Anoushka Shankar revealed, on social media, that the celebrations, ‘Shankar 100’, are now back on track.
She wrote, “Moved from 2020 to 2021 and to finally 2022 I’m almost afraid to say that (universe-willing!) we’ll finally be celebrating my father Ravi Shankar’s Centenary with a special concert on 5 March at London’s wonderful Southbank Centre. A whole host of his disciples including myself and other special guests will be playing his music for you.”
(Photo Courtesy: Facebook)
Anoushka added, “It’s going to be a really special, once-in-a-lifetime concert! I can’t wait for rehearsals and reunions to start! I’ll post videos as we go along for those of you who can’t be there to get a sneak peak.”
The listing on Southbank Centre’s website stated that Nitin Sawhney will be a special guest at ‘Shankar 100’. The performers will guide the audience through “a retrospective of his multi-genre work, including Indian Classical, East-West collaborations and songs from films”.
The centenary celebrations will be led by his daughters Anoushka and Norah Jones. There are also workshops scheduled on 5 March and an archive exhibition will be held till May.
Anoushka Shankar was the first Indian musician to perform live and serve as a presenter at a Grammy ceremony and has received 7 nominations. Norah Jones has won nine Grammy awards, five of which she received for her 2002 album 'Come Away with Me'.
Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar worked as a composer on Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy and Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anuradha. Shankar was part of the Indian People's Theatre Association till 1946. Shankar has composed the tune for ‘Sare Jahan Se Achcha’ and was the music director of All India Radio till 1956.
In 1974, Shankar was a headliner for the North American tour with Beatles member George Harrison.
George Harrison with Pandit Ravi Shankar.
(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)
He won five Grammy awards for his work with the first in 1967 for ‘Best Chamber Music Performance’ (with Yehudi Menuhin). Shankar was also nominated for an Academy award for ‘Best Original Music Score’ for Gandhi.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)