KHAN, ALI AKBAR

born April 14, 1922, Shibpur, Bengal, India composer and virtuoso sarod player active in presenting Indian music to Western audiences. Khan's music is rooted in the Hindustani (northern) tradition of Indian music. Khan was trained by his father, the master Alauddin Khan, and began performing at age 14, soon becoming the court musician to the maharaja of Jodhpur. After 1955, when the violinist Yehudi Menuhin invited him to New York City, he often performed in the West, frequently in collaboration with his brother-in-law, the composer and sitarist Ravi Shankar. As a composer Khan is known for his film scores and as the creator of many ragas. He founded schools of music in Calcutta (1956) and in Marin county, Calif. (1967).