It is rare to come across musicians such as Ustad Irfan Khan. He is the last representative of a long line of legendary musicians, direct from the royal courts of North India. His ancestors were renowned instrumentalists and played the leading role in inventing and popularising the beautifully resonant lute, the Sarod. Ustad Irfan Khan represents the eighth generation of his family's musical lineage. He is the inheritor of a rich and authentic voice of Indian music and has made it his life mission to perform and pass on his family's musical inheritance around the world. Along with the Sitar, the Sarod is central to the rich, centuries old, instrumental tradition of North Indian Classical Music. The Sarod came into existence in the mid nineteenth century in the city of Lucknow through the creative combination of the musical designs, musical styles and repertoires of earlier instruments. Ustad Niamatullah Khan, Irfan Khan’s ancestor, was the all-important person behind the invention of the instrument. Ustad Irfan Khan is the scion of the oldest and illustrious family of sarod players, the Lucknow Shahjahanpur Gharana. He was vigorously taught in the traditional style by his father, Ustad Umar Khan, a famous sarod player and scholar, and by his uncle Ustad Illyas Khan, the legendary sitar player from Lucknow. Over his long and illustrious career, Ustad Irfan Khan has performed extensively throughout India, Europe, UK, USA, Canada, Japan and Afghanistan. He has taught and run workshops in universities around the world including Kings College, London and UCLA College of William and Mary Virginia, USA. Ustad Irfan Khan has been awarded the titles of:

Sur-Mani by Sur Sringar Samsad, Mumbai
Seva Sree by Dakshin Kalikata Kriris Sanskriti Parishad, Kolkata
Sangeet Ratna by the Salt Lake Cultural Association

REVIEWS
Irfan Khan gave a true picture of the Tantrakari Baaj (instrumental style)... used the customary phrases to beautify the raga in its true sense - The Statesman, Kolkata
Irfan Muhammad Khan, khalifa of the Lucknow Shahjahanpur Sarod Gharana, remains committed to preserving the purity of classical form - The Hindustan Times
Ifran Khan vividly reconstructed the style of his famous grandfather Sakhawat Hussain Khan - The Times of India
Ustad Irfan Khan and Arnab Chakraborty presented a duet... which was highly melodious - Ananda Bazaar Patrika

VIDEOS
IRFAN KHAN | Raga Tilak Kamod (2019) - YouTube
THE ALBATROSS AROUND MY NECK | Echoes of loss between Lucknow and Berlin
TRAILER | The Lucknow Shahjahanpur Gharana Archive
IRFAN KHAN | Raga Sindhura: Alap
IRFAN KHAN | Raga Jhinjhoti (2019)
IRFAN KHAN | Raga Zila Kafi (2023)

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Contact the host of Ustad Irfan Khan & Bobby Singh @ Bellingen Memorial Hall