Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt gets Ustad Chand Khan Lifetime Achievement Award

Grammy-winning Hindustani classical music instrumentalist Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt will be honoured with the annual Ustad Chand Khan Lifetime Achievement Award, Sursagar Society of Dilli Gharana has announced.

The two-day Indian classical music festival scheduled to be held on October 21-22, this year, will be dedicated to saint-musician-composer Pandit Kunwar Shyam, and celebrate the rich 'Guru-Shishya' tradition.

Best known for his Grammy award winning album "A Meeting by the River" with Ry Cooder, Bhatt, born in Jaipur, plays the Mohan Veena (slide guitar).

He has also been part of several pan-cultural collaborations with western artists such as Taj Mahal, Bela Flack and Jerry Douglas, among others.

Organised by the Sursagar Society of Dilli Gharana, the annual music festival will open with a vocal recital by Imran Khan.

"Music speaks directly to the heart. This response, this echo within the heart, is proof that human hearts can transcend the barriers of time and space and nationality.

"The voice has the power to transform life from within, to strengthen and purify it," Iqbal Ahmed Khan, General Secretary of Sursagar Society of Dilli Gharana, said.

A special performance 'Baithaki ka Bhav' by Kathak exponent Pandit Birju Maharaj is part of the line-up. Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt will also be performing at the event.

Other highlights include a sitar recital by Adnan Khan and a vocal recital by Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan.

Founded in 1940 by Ustad Chand Khan Sahab in 1940, Sursagar Society aims to aim to conserve and promote an awareness of both the rich and heterogeneous cultural tapestry through a focus on the classical arts.