Hariprasad Chaurasia

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (born July 1, 1938) is a Indian classical instrumentalist. He is a player of the bansuri, the North Indian bamboo flute. Chaurasia is a classicist who has made a conscious effort to reach out and expand the audience for classical music. Hariprasad Chaurasia was born in Allahabad in a non musical family. His father was a wrestler. His mother died when he was four. Hariprasad had to learn music almost in secret, scared o... more

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (born July 1, 1938) is a Indian classical instrumentalist. He is a player of the bansuri, the North Indian bamboo flute. Chaurasia is a classicist who has made a conscious effort to reach out and expand the audience for classical music. Hariprasad Chaurasia was born in Allahabad in a non musical family. His father was a wrestler. His mother died when he was four. Hariprasad had to learn music almost in secret, scared of the father who wanted him to become a wrestler. He did go to the Akhada and train with his father for some time, although he also started learning music in secret, and practicing in his friend's house. He has credited this wrestling training for giving him the immense stamina and lung power that are the hallmarks of his flute playing, stating that, Hariprasad Chaurasia started learning vocal music from his neighbour, Pandit Rajaram at the age of 15. Later, he switched to playing the flute under the tutelage of Pandit Bholanath Prasanna of... less