Kartik Seshadri (born 1957) is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

player and teacher of

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

. He is the director of the Indian Classical Music Ensemble at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

Career

Seshadri was born in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

, India in 1957. At age 6 he began playing the sitar. When he was 18 he began studying with sitarist Pandit

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitar, sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known expert of Hin ...

, and later toured and performed with his

guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

. In 2005 and 2010, Seshadri collaborated with prominent composer

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

on the critically acclaimed Orion project. Seshadri performs extensively ranging from international venues such as

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

the Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

, the

Melbourne International Arts Festival Melbourne International Arts Festival, formerly Spoleto Festival Melbourne – Festival of the Three Worlds, then Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, becoming commonly known as Melbourne Festival, was a major international arts festi ...

in Australia, to venues in India such as the

Dover Lane Music Conference The Dover Lane Music Conference is an annual Indian classical music festival held in the month of January at Nazrul Mancha, an outdoor auditorium in south Kolkata. The Dover Lane Music Conference is an all night concert attended by visitors ...

, ITC/SRA,

Sawai Gandharva Ramachandra Kundgolkar Saunshi, popularly known as Sawai Gandharva and Ram-bhau (19 January 1886 – 12 September 1952), was a popular Hindustani Classical vocalist from Karnataka. He was a master in the genre of Kirana Gharana style. He was ...

and Saptak Sammelans in India. Seshadri has received many awards and accolades for his music including his June 2012 nomination as the "artist of the month" by the prestigious Sangeeth Research Academy (SRA) in Kolkata and his most recent award (2014) from the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) for his vision and contribution to the field of Music and Art.

References

External links

Kartik Seshadri Official Website

Kartik Seshadri Academy for Indian Classical Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seshadri, Kartik 1957 births Living people Indian sitar players Indian male classical musicians University of California, San Diego faculty Musicians from Chennai