Irfan Muhammad Khan

Irfan Md. Khan carries forward one of the most respected sarod traditions of North India, the Lucknow Shahjahanpur Gharana. This lineage has produced eminent musicians over the past two centuries, including Ustad Enayet Khan, Ustad Asadullah Khan Kaukab, Ustad Karamatullah Khan, and Prof. Sakhawat Hussain Khan of Marris College, Lucknow. Irfan’s grandfather belonged to this same line, and through his family, he inherits a direct musical descent that traces back to the male lineage of Mian Tansen.

His early training was influenced by his father, the renowned sarod player Ustad Umar Khan, and his uncle, Ustad Ilyas Khan, a respected sitarist from Lucknow. Under their guidance, Irfan developed a playing style rooted in the instrumental mode known as Tantra Baaj. His alaap is shaped in the spirit of the rabab and sur singar traditions, giving his music a depth that reflects older sound ideals. In Gat and Toba, he draws from a rare body of compositions created by masters such as Rahim Sen, Basat Khan, Pyar Khan, Jaffar Khan, and Haider Khan, preserving material that dates back to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Alongside his traditional training, Irfan pursued formal music education. He holds Sangeet Visharad and Sangeet Praveen degrees and completed his Master of Music from Prayag Sangeet Samiti in Allahabad, where he topped his class and received the gold medal. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Kanpur University, reflecting a balanced engagement with both art and scholarship.

Recognized for his contribution to Indian classical music, Irfan was awarded the title Sur Mani by the Sur Singar Samsad of Bombay. He has performed extensively across India and internationally, including in Germany, Italy, and the United States, as well as in neighbouring countries. In 1988, he was invited to perform at the Festival of Sarod organized by the Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan Memorial Society in Delhi.

Irfan’s career also reflects a strong commitment to teaching. He served as head of the music department at Assam Valley School in Tezpur and taught at Delhi Public School in Numaligarh. Selected by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the Ministry of External Affairs, he was deputed to Kabul, Afghanistan, where he worked for three years as a sarod and sitar teacher. He later served as professor of sarod and sitar at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul.