India’s sitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar to perform at Royal Opera House Muscat

Muscat: One of the leading figures in World Music today, sitar player and composer Anoushka Shankar will perform at the Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) on Thursday, January 7 at 7:00pm.
Her performance at the ROHM is important in itself as a world-class music recital and also as ROHM’s first concert for solo sitar. With this unique concert, ROHM will celebrate an iconic instrument that flourished in the Mughal courts of India in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Shankar was thoroughly schooled in Indian classical music. From the age of nine, she exclusively studied under the guidance of her father and guru, the legendary sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar (1920-2012).
She made her professional début at the age of 13 and has since performed at prestigious venues, such as the Royal Albert Hall and Carnegie Hall. Shankar has championed her father’s orchestral works in recitals with the world’s leading orchestras under conductors, such as Zubin Mehta.
Before the age of 20, she had recorded three classical sitar albums with Angel/EMI and received the first of her four Grammy nominations. A gifted and visionary musician, she was the first Indian woman and the youngest ever nominee in the Grammy World Music category.
In her 20s, when Shankar was established as one of the world’s foremost classical sitar players, she began to compose, exploring fertile ground in the crossover between Indian music and a variety of external genres, including Western classical music, flamenco, jazz, and electronic music.
Shankar has also collaborated in her recordings with a diverse range of musicians and luminaries, such as Sting, Joshua Bell and Herbie Hancock. She has subtly incorporated traditional Indian sounds into a panorama of contemporary musical styles, bringing the ancient spiritual roots of her music to today’s global spectrum of audiences.
ROHM’s sitar concert is one of seven world music concerts being staged this season.
The performances that are still to come are from renowned African singer Salif Keifa on January 28, the Silk Road theatrical dance show by Syrian company Ornina on February 25 and 26, TROY: An Anatolian Legend on April 1 and 2; and, China’s Golden Dragon Acrobats on May 24 and 25.