About
Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan, born in 1954 in Mumbai, is among the world's greatest living sitar players and the primary exponent of the seventh generation of the Etawah, or Imdadkhani, gharana, the sitar's most illustrious lineage. Initiated by his father and guru Ustad Aziz Khan, he performed publicly from childhood and rose to international eminence, renowned for the vocalistic gayaki ang of his playing that has earned him the epithet The Man with the Singing Sitar. A Padma Shri and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, he performs across the world and, through his SPK Academy, trains the tradition's next generation.
Born in 1954 in Mumbai, Shahid Parvez Khan was initiated into the Etawah gharana by his father and guru Ustad Aziz Khan, grandson of the legendary Ustad Wahid Khan, receiving his first sitar at the age of four and performing publicly at eight. Over a career from the 1960s to the present he has performed on the world's leading stages across Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and India, founded the SPK Academy of Music in 2009, and received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2006) and the Padma Shri (2012).
The artistry
Khan's playing is celebrated for controlled power and dazzling speed achieved without any loss of the tonal and conceptual clarity established in slower movements, and above all for evoking the nuances of the human voice on the instrument. Rooted in the Etawah gharana developed by Imdad Khan, Enayat Khan and Vilayat Khan, and influenced by the great vocalists, his art is a masterclass in melody and rhythm.
[Atlas Perspective] Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan is among the greatest living sitar players in the world. For flagship festivals and prestige programmes, he is a landmark, first-rank choice.
Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan is a living torch-bearer of the Etawah gharana, the sitar's most illustrious lineage, sustaining at the highest level its gayaki ang tradition and passing it on worldwide through his performances and his academy.