Rakesh Chaurasia

Rakesh Chaurasia, born on 10 January 1971, is one of India's foremost bansuri players and the nephew and most accomplished disciple of the flute legend Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. Trained intensively in the family tradition, he emerged as a leading classical soloist and an in-demand collaborator across genres, performing on the world's major stages. A multiple Grammy Award winner for his work with the global ensemble Shakti and other projects, he moves fluently between pure Hindustani classical recitals, film music and international fusion, carrying the Chaurasia bansuri legacy into a new generation.

Chaurasia has toured and recorded with Zakir Hussain, Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, and won two Grammy Awards in 2024 for the collaborative album As We Speak, for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album and, for the track Pashto, Best Global Music Performance. He leads the fusion ensemble Rakesh and Friends, performs solo classical recitals worldwide, and is a frequent presence at SPIC MACAY concerts.

Chaurasia plays the bansuri with a rare balance of strength and serenity, a dextrous blowing technique and deep command of swara and laya inherited from his guru. He is equally at home in the meditative unfolding of a classical raga and in the interplay of a fusion ensemble, bringing tonal beauty, rhythmic agility and improvisatory daring to both. His playing honours the lyrical, gayaki-influenced Chaurasia style while extending it with a contemporary openness to collaboration across the world's musical traditions.