India’s musical princess for Carnival Center

If world music has a royal dynasty, then Anoushka Shankar is its reigning princess. Trained by her father Ravi, she is a unique artist, a sitar virtuoso in her own right, and a master interpreter of the traditional music of India. Shankar will perform music from her Grammy Award-nominated recording Rise at Miami’s Carnival Center in the Knight Concert Hall on Saturday, March 24 at 8 p.m.

Now 25, Anoushka became a student and disciple of her legendary father when she was just 9 years old. The world’s greatest sitar player had a special, small sitar made for his daughter, and took the rare opportunity to teach her to play the long-necked Indian string instrument traditionally performed by men. It was soon obvious that she had inherited her father’s musical gift, and she began performing and recording with him at age 13.

Anoushka began a solo career with her 1998 debut, Anoushka (Angel/EMI Classics), released to tremendous critical acclaim, followed by Anourag (2000) and Live at Carnegie Hall (2001), becoming the youngest artist to be nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best World Music Album category.

Anoushka made her conducting debut six years ago in New Delhi, conducting a 22-member orchestra and premiering a new composition of her father’s titled, “Kalyan.” At the historic Concert for George, a memorial for her family’s dear friend George Harris held in the venerable Royal Albert Hall, London in November 2002, she performed a sitar solo during “The Inner Light” with Jeff Lyne before conducting a new composition of her father’s called “Apran.” This piece featured performances by 43 musicians playing Indian and Western instruments and a guitar solo by Eric Clapton.

Anoushka spent her formative years in London, where she was born in 1981. By the time she was seven she was also living part of the year in New Delhi, India, where she still spends time performing and helping to take care of the newly constructed Ravi Shankar Centre. At age eleven she moved from London to Encinitas, California, where she graduated in 1999 with honors from public school.

In recognition of her artistry and musicianship, the British Parliament presented Anoushka with a House of Commons Shield in 1998. She is the youngest, as well as the first, female recipient of this high honor. Anoushka became the first woman to perform at The Ramakrishna Centre in Calcutta in February 2000. The Indian Television Academy, Asmi and India Times chose her as one of four Women of the Year in India in 2003; and in 2004 the Asian edition of TIME magazine chose her as one of twenty Asian Heroes.

After a year's sabbatical in 2004, Anoushka has returned to the concert stage performing solo and as a member of her father’s ensemble. September 2004 saw the release of her fourth solo album, Rise, which features several of her new compositions played by her and an ensemble of notable musicians from around the world. Rise is notable for its fusion between traditional Indian classical raga and Western instruments and electronic influences. It is the work of a confident master, and has been hailed by purists and pop fans alike.