Wajahat Khan has been played on NTS in shows including Stephen O'Malley: Metta Dôme, featured first on 9 February 2021. Songs played include Rag Pilu.

Sarod Virtuoso - Indian Classical Master musician

“An exhilarating experience…Wajahat’s virtuosity on the sarod can be taken for granted” - The Independent, London

"Music at its most spontaneous, vibrant and sensual…” - South China Morning Post

“Wah Ustad Wah (Bravo Maestro Bravo)… His distinctive style and virtuoso technique expands over a wide spectrum of dhrupad, khyal and thumri forms ” - The Asian Age, Calcutta

“breathtaking in its scope and attention to melodic and rhythmic detail. You will rarely hear playing that is more focussed and intelligent than this.” - Gramophone / Songlines

(Source: http://www.wajahatkhan.com/index.htm )

Ustad Wajahat Khan - The Performing Musician

Ustad Wajahat Khan is one of the most outstanding sarod virtuosos of India today. Son and nephew of the legendary maestros Ustad Imrat Khan and late Ustad Vilayat Khan respectively, he represents the eighth generation of India's most distinguished dynasty of sitar and surbahar players, whose lasting contributions have profoundly influenced and shaped the course of north Indian instrumental music up to the present day.

Wajahat Khan started his training under his father from the age of three studying singing, sitar and surbahar in his family’s tradition, and later the sarod. He started his musical career as a child prodigy vocalist, but soon in his early teens he went on to become the first sarod player in this eminent family. He is now established as one of the exceptional world-ranking Indian musicians of his generation.

Based in Calcutta and London, he tours regularly and has performed at prestigious venues and festivals, in over 30 countries of the Indian sub-continent, the UK, Europe, Scandinavia, the USA, the former USSR, Africa, South-East Asia and the Far-East. For some of his career highlights please see international career.

Wajahat Khan's distinctive Style on the Sarod

Even though several renowned sarod players have trained under his musical dynasty, Wajahat Khan is the first member of this illustrious family of sitar and surbahar players to take up the sarod. He has brought to the sarod the intricate and fluid styles evolved and popularised by generations of his family, including his pioneering adaptation of the four-string technique of the surbahar to the sarod, and interweaves a wide spectrum of dhrupad, khyal and thumri forms of the vocal tradition, with the authentic sarod baaj (instrumental repertoire). He uniquely uses seven pegs, instead of the conventional six or eight pegs that are used by other contemporary sarod masters.

In an age where music is increasingly influenced and made with the aid of computers, Wajahat Khan's live performances are an unforgettable experience of great depth and musicianship of the highest level, rarely found in live performance today.

(Source: http://www.wajahatkhan.com/musician.htm )

Ustad Wajahat Khan - International Career Highlights

Wajahat Khan made his international debut in 1977 and is now well established as an artist of worldwide acclaim. He now divides his time between India and the West, and tours regularly. He has performed extensively at prestigious venues and festivals in over 30 countries - the Indian sub-continent, the UK, Europe, Scandinavia, the USA, former USSR, Africa, South-East Asia and the Far-East.

Some of his career highlights:

India

Spending his hectic Indian winter music seasons based in Kolkata (Calcutta) and Mumbai (Bombay), Wajahat Khan has performed at major venues and music conferences of India including:

* Sajan Milap Festival, Mumbai IMG St. Xavier’s Music Conference, Mumbai Hirabai Smruti Sangeet Samaroh, Mumbai National Centre of Performing Arts, Mumbai Nehru Centre, Mumbai Suburban Music Festival, Mumbai Bhartiya Vidhya Bhavan, Mumbai * Sadarang Sangeet Samaroh, Kolkata Rajya Sabha Sangeet West Bengal Music Conference, Kolkata Dover Lane Music Conference, Kolkata, * Vishnu Digambar Festival, New Delhi Delhi University Habitat Centre, New Delhi * Baba Harballabh Sangeet Mahasabha, Jalandhar * Maifil Conference, Nagpur * BHU Music Festival, Banaras * Maharana Kumbh Sangeet Sammelan, Udaipur * Saptak Music Conference, Ahmedabad * the SPICMACAY Concert Series - in New Delhi, Kolkata, Banaras, Bhubaneswar, Ranchi, Kharagpur, as well as many other towns and cities all over India.

United Kingdom

For part of each year he is based in London where he has appeared in prestigious venues and numerous British festivals including:

* BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall (Henry Wood Promenade Concerts) - London * House of Commons (first sarod performance in the Parliament) - London * Spitalfields Festival (on 8 consecutive years) - London * Capital Radio Music Festival - London * Wigmore Hall, London * Windsor Festival (in the Royal Windsor Castle) * Brighton Festival (at the Royal Pavilion) * the Snape Proms at Aldeburgh Festival * Other festivals include: Glastonbury, Canterbury, Bath, Lichfield, Wingfield, Bury St Edmonds, Norwich and Norfolk Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival Nottingham Asian Festival, and many more * The Sage - Gateshead * Manan Festival - Isle of Man * Usher Hall, Edinburgh - Scotland Glasgow May Festival - Scotland * Numerous concerts at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.

In 1979 he performed for the Commonwealth Conference in Edinburgh where he was presented by Mr Inder Kumar Gujral, the Prime Minister of India.

USA and Canada

Several concert trips and tours - performing at major venues, festivals and universities including:

* Smithsonian Institute (Washington DC) * Lincoln Centre (New York) * Universities of Washington - St. Louis, New York, Amherst, Pittsburgh, Albany, Cleveland, Baltimore, Massachusetts, Columbia, Orlando, Florida, Maryland, Utica, Augustana College, and many more. * Universities of: Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa - Canada

Europe

Several concert trips and tours - performing at major venues, festivals and universities including:

* Theatre du Rond Point, Paris - France Festivals in Strasbourg, Nantes, Ettempes, Melle, Colmar, Avignon - France * Philharmonic Hall, Koln - Germany Symphony Hall, Berlin Important venues and Festivals in Berlin, Munich, Kassell, Dusseldorf, Freiburg, * Istanbul Festival - Turkey * The Megaron Centre, Athens - Greece Herod Atticus Theatre at the Acropolis, Athens - Greece Ancient Delphi Stadium, Greece Greece-India Festival - on invitation of the Government of India * Festivals in Madrid and Barcelona - Spain * Concerts in Brussels and Antwerp - Belgium * Mozes and Aaron Church, Amsterdam - Holland Concerts in Utrecht, Rotterdam, Hague - Holland * Kulturzentrum bei den Minoriten, Graz - Austria Festivals in Saltzburg and Halstatt - Austria * Rietburg Museum, Zurich - Switzerland Festivals in Geneva and Zurich - Switzerland * Festivals in Milan, Venice and Cabella in Italy * Concerts and festivals in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark

Eastern Europe and Russia

* Festival of India - on invitation of the Government of India * 28 concerts at the Former Soviet Union, including the Kremlin Palace - Moscow Tchaikovsky Hall - Moscow Moscow Conservatoire Operatta - Moscow * Festival in Prague - Czechoslovakia * National Philharmonija Hall (3 concerts), Vilnius - Lithuania Vilnius Festival - Lithuania Prazalus Festival - Lithuania

Africa

Several concert trips - performing at major venues, festivals and universities including:

* Playhouse Theatre (for HRH King of Kwa Zulu Natal) Durban City Hall - DurbanDurban Film Festival * City Hall - Cape Town * Indian Cultural Centre - Johannesburg * Opera Hall - Port Elizabeth

Bangladesh

Numerous concert trips to Bangladesh, performances include:

* Shilpokala Academy * Dhaka Club * Bangla Academy * Dhaka Museum

Far East

* Traditional Muslim Music Festival of the World, Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia * World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur - for the Prime Minister of Malaysia Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore (4 concerts) * Suntori Hall, Tokyo (2 concerts) - Japan, Yakushiji Temple, Nara - Japan Concerts in Kyoto, Kobe and Osaka - Japan * Hong Kong International Arts Festival City Hall (3 concerts) - Hong Kong

BROADCASTS

Several of his recitals have been broadcast by leading international TV and Radio channels - including:

* BBC Television * BBC Radio 3 * BBC World Service * Channel 4 television, London * Zee TV, London * Sunrise Radio, London * Doordarshan Television, Kolkata * All India Radio, from several cities of India * NHK TV (Tokyo) * TV3 Kuala Lumpur * Lotus Channel, Durban * Radio Paris * WDR Koln * Radio Saarbrucken * Radio Bremen * Sender Freies Berlin

For the millennium celebrations he performed an historic BBC Millennium Concert from London broadcast live on the BBC World Service and over the Internet.

(Source: http://www.wajahatkhan.com/events.htm )

The Composer

Ustad Wajahat Khan is an accomplished composer and has led numerous successful world music collaborations in Indian classical, jazz, flamenco, rock, and Western classical. He has written orchestral and chamber scores for Western as well as Indian instruments working with renowned soloists and ensembles including two sarod concertos and an award winning quintet for sarod and string quartet.

This extraordinary collaboration of Indian and Western Classical music is written and performed by Wajahat Khan. The highly acclaimed work was premiered at a sold out Wigmore Hall in London to a standing ovation with the one of the UK's leading international ensembles, the Medici String Quartet. It has also been performed with other renowned 1international quartets such as the Ciurlionis Quartet. Wajahat Khan has performed this work at prestigious venues and festivals including the Megaron (Athens), the Sage Gateshead (UK) and the festivals of Bath (UK), Vilnius (Lithuania), Geneva (Switzerland) and Istanbul (Turkey). The recording release has also received rave reviews globally.

Wajahat Khan has expanded the repertoire of the sarod into Western classical symphony orchestras with two sarod concertos, receiving worldwide acclaim. In 1991 he performed the world premiere of his first sarod concerto in Kassell in the presence of the German President. Since then he has collaborated and performed with leading international orchestras such as the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, the KwaZulu Natal Philharmonic Orchestra (Durban) and the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra in South Africa.

Launched at the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Hall in London for the 50th anniversary of India's Independence, Wajahat Khan created for the first time, an ensemble comprised solely of all the traditional instruments and percussion that are at the forefront of North Indian classical music scene today - sarod, sitar, surbahar, sarangi, santoor, shehnai, bansuri, pakhawaj and tabla played by some of the leading soloists of the UK. Subsequent performances have included the prestigious Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in the UK.

Wajahat Khan continues to work as a composer and performer globally. He has toured Europe and the UK on several occasions with his own world music ensemble which includes the renowned flamenco/jazz guitarist Eduardo Niebla. He has also performed with respected musicians in other genres such as the Japanese shakuhachi maestro Yoshikazu Iwamoto and composed/recorded for the BRIT Award winning rock band Kula Shaker. More recently his duet performances and tours with the great Indian shehnai virtuoso Ustad Ali Ahmad Khan have been memorable. Their CD was the first sarod and shehnai duet ever recorded - another of Wajahat Khan's innovations to the sarod and Indian classical music.

(Source: http://www.wajahatkhan.com/composer.htm )