Representative Albums: "Anoushka", "Live at Carnegie Hall
Representative Songs: "Shuddha Sarang", "Tilak Shyam", "Pancham Se Gara
Biography
The daughter of sitar legend Ravi Shankar, Anoushka Shankar began studying under her father at age nine, making her performing debut four years later. Appearing alongside her father as he toured the world, she appeared at Carnegie Hall while still in her teens, and also performed with Peter Gabriel's WOMAD festival. She was the youngest and only female recipient of the House of Commons Shield awarded by British Parliament "in recognition of her artistry and musicianship -- as a pre-eminent musician of the Asian Arts." Shankar made her solo debut with 1998's Anoushka, released when she was still just 17 years old. Anourag followed two years later. The young prodigy added another triumph to her already impressive career in 2001 with her Live at Carnegie Hall album. The fusion- and worldbeat-inspired Rise arrived in 2005, followed by Karsh Kale: Breathing Under Water in 2007. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Anoushka Shankar (Hindi: अनुष्का शंकर), born June 9, 1981) is a sitar player and composer in the United States. She is the daughter of Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player, and Sukanya Rajan, a bank employee. Through her father, she is the half-sister of Grammy Award winner Norah Jones.[1]
Shankar was born in London and divided her childhood between London and Delhi. As a teenager, she lived in Encinitas, California and attended San Dieguito Academy. A 1999 honors graduate, Shankar decided to pursue a career in music rather than attend college.[1]
Career
Anoushka and Ravi Shankar in concert, 2005
Shankar began training on the sitar with her father as a child, gave a public performance at the age of thirteen, and signed her first record contract at 16.[1]
She released her first album, Anoushka, in 1998. Later, in February 2000, Shankar became the first woman to perform at The Ramakrishna Centre in Kolkata. Both Shankar and her half-sister, Norah Jones, were nominated for Grammy awards in 2003.[1]
Shankar, in collaboration with Karsh Kale, released Breathing Under Water on 28 August 2007. It is a mix of classical sitar and electronica beats and melodies. Notable guest vocals include her half-sister, Norah Jones, Sting, and Ravi Shankar who performs a sitar duet with his daughter.
In 2009, Anoushka started writing weekly columns for HT City, the lifestyle supplement of Hindustan Times. These columns appear online on social network Desimartini[2]
Shankar and Jethro Tull postponed a concert scheduled for 29 November 2008 in Mumbai[3] after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. They reorganized the performance as A Billion Hands Concert, a benefit performance for victims of the attacks, and held it on 5 December 2008.[4] Shankar commented on this decision stating that: "As a musician, this is how I speak, how I express the anger within me [...] our entire tour has been changed by these events and even though the structure of the concert may remain the same, emotionally perhaps we are saying a lot more." [5]
Shankar is a supporter of animal rights and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). She and her father appeared in a thirty-second public-service announcement against animal suffering.[6] Shankar is a vegan.[7]