Hafiz Bale Khan

PLAYS

Sitar

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GHARANA

Etawah (Imdadkhani)

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Hafiz Bale Khan is a sitarist of the Kirana and Dharwad gharana. He belongs to the family of the late Sitar Ratna Rahimat Khan (great-grandfather), the late Ustad Abdul Karim Khan (grandfather) and the late Ustad Bale Khan (father), all credited with popularising the sitar in South India, and he received tutelage from them. His playing draws on gayaki ang (the reproduction of the sung notes) and the old gats of his family tradition, and he has studied the distinctiveness of his khandani baaj, the family's way of playing within the gharana. He also sings various forms of Hindustani music - khayal, thumri and ghazal - and specialises in Kannada vachanas and Dasara padas. He received the Guru Gangadhar Pradhan Memorial Award, Bhubaneshwar, in 2011, and the 'Sur Mani' from 'Sur Singar Smasad', Mumbai. An approved artiste of All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan for sitar, he has performed and given live radio broadcasts in India, the U.K., the U.S.A. and the Persian Gulf, with recent concerts in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Indiana, Wisconsin, London and Kuwait.