Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

Amjad Ali Khan was born on 9 October 1945 in Gwalior, the youngest son of the sarod master Hafiz Ali Khan. His family belongs to the Senia Bangash gharana, a lineage that traces its descent through court musicians of northern India, and the sarod has passed from father to son within it for six generations.

His training began very young and under his father's direct supervision. He gave his first solo recital as a boy — accounts place him at around twelve — and by the 1960s he was touring abroad.

Through the 1970s and 1980s he became one of the most widely heard Indian musicians of his generation, performing at Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and at festivals across Europe and North America. He has also written and performed work with Western orchestras, among them the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Teaching has run alongside performance throughout his career, in India and as a visiting musician at universities abroad. His sons, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, are both sarod players and carry the family line forward.

He continues to perform. Among many honours, he received the Padma Shri in 1975, the Padma Bhushan in 1991, the Padma Vibhushan in 2001 and the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2004.

Two things are usually named when musicians describe Amjad Ali Khan's playing. The first is the ekhara taan — rapid passages struck note by note in single strokes, which ask for exceptional clarity as well as speed. The second is his pursuit of gayaki ang, the vocal manner, on an instrument with no frets and a short sustain: sliding meend and fine ornament that let the sarod imitate the human voice.

He has also worked on the instrument itself, adopting steel strings and adjusting the bridge and fingerboard to make long slides across octaves more even. Together these changes helped establish the sarod as a solo concert instrument capable of holding a full evening on its own.