Legendary sitar virtuoso, Ravi Shankar, will perform as part of his 90th birthday celebration tour, with his daughter Anoushka Shankar, who also plays the sitar and is a composer in her own right at the Festival 2010 on Friday March 12 at the Michael Fowler Centre.
"It is a real coup for us to have Ravi Shankar performing as part of the New Zealand International Arts Festival. This historic performance has just been announced as part of an Australasian tour and the only performance in New Zealand is being presented in Wellington at the Festival." says Lissa Twomey, Artistic Director.
Described as the "Godfather of World Music" by the late George Harrison of the Beatles, it is almost 30 years since Ravi Shankar last performed in New Zealand. In a career spanning 70 years, he has taken his country's music to the world.
In the 1950's, he was introduced to virtuoso violinist Yehudi Menuhin who was visiting India at the time, and Menuhin invited Shankar to the United States. Within 10 years, Shankar was the most famous Indian musician in the world, inspiring musicians from the Beatles to jazz saxophonist John Coltrane and composer Phillip Glass.
Shankar, Anoushka Shankar and group will perform one concert at Festival 2010 on March 12 at the Michael Fowler Centre.