Biography

Mehandi Hasan (born December 2, 1978) – is an Indian musician, vocalist and sitar player. He is bestowed with an enchanting 3.5 octave vocal range. Mehandi was the first sitarist who began playing the sitar, fixed in a standing position. Prior to that, the musicians played the sitar only sitting.

Mehandi Hasan was born to a reputed Sufi family, where history of music dates back to the prehistoric era. His grandfather, Ustad Mahboob Khan, was a famous sarangi player and a good friend of both Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan.

At that time, every musician belonged to different houses of music. Ustad Mahboob Khan created his own house of music, called Sikar Gharana, where famous artists came to study and play music, like Pandit Ram Narayan and other musicians.

Mehandi studied music from the age of three onwards. The classes guided by his grandfather allowed him to realise his passion for music, and accept that music would be a part of his life from then on.

As an adolescent, Mehandi chose to go to university at «The University of Rajasthan» in Jaipur, India, and graduated with a master’s degree in Indian Classical Music. He has participated in various Indian festivals, such as The International Festival of India, The International Film Festival of India, The Festival of Devotional Music of India, Virasat Utsav, and many others.

In 1999 Mehandi Hasan was invited for the first time to play in Europe. He performed numerous successful concerts in France, Switzerland, Germany and Poland at this time.  In this period Mehandi also worked on a variety of new songs – Shakti, Bougee and Telescope.

In 2009 he came back to Europe and toured Germany and Switzerland. After this Mehandi came back to India, where he performed a series of concerts and participated in many festivals.

Mehandi got an invitation to come to Russia in 2013, where he played numerous successful concerts. He also took part in a classical music concert at the Moscow Conservatory, where he received a letter of appreciation. He played at Buddha Bar Moscow in 2014 and 2015. He also took part in large yoga festivals, such as Kundalini Yoga Festival 2014, YogArt, First Yoga Day, and many other in Russia and India.

Mehandi experiments with various musical styles and also with electronic music, which he uses like background music and fills it with his enchanting voice, and his unique funky sitar sound.

In 2015 he received an award from the District Minister of Sikar for his outstanding contribution to Rajasthani music.

In 2017 Mehandi received an award as the best sitar player in Rajasthan.

AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS

  •  Winner of XI «All India Cultural Music» in Bangalore (1996);
  •  Silver in the second international festival «Ghoomar» in Jaipur (1998);
  •  Final Winner of National T.V. Channel «Doordarshan» in competition «Ga Mere Sang Ga» (2002);
  •  Received a special relic from the Governor of Goa, Mr. Kidar Nath Sahani (2003);
  •  Received an award for his outstanding contribution to Rajasthani music from Mr. Soni, the District Minister of Sikar (2015);
  • Received an award as the best sitar player in Rajasthan (2017).

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