Wajahat Khan

Wajahat Khan represents a rare synthesis of deep-rooted musical lineage, technical innovation, and contemporary global vision. Born in Kolkata into one of India’s most influential musical families, he began formal training at the age of three in vocal music, sitar, and surbahar under the guidance of his father, Imrat Khan. Despite belonging to a family traditionally associated with the sitar, Wajahat Khan made a decisive artistic choice in his early teens to specialize in the sarod, thereby charting an independent path while retaining the core aesthetics of the Imdadkhani Gharana. 

His performance career spans several decades and continents, with appearances across the Indian subcontinent, Europe, the United Kingdom, North America, Africa, the Middle East, and East Asia. He has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious cultural venues, including the Royal Albert Hall, Kremlin, Acropolis, Smithsonian Institution, Carnegie-linked venues, and leading international festivals. Alongside traditional recitals, he has consistently expanded the role of the sarod through large-scale orchestral and chamber works, composing and performing multiple sarod concertos for symphony orchestras and string ensembles. 

As a composer, Wajahat Khan has collaborated with renowned orchestras, string quartets, and world-music ensembles and founded innovative projects such as the Wajahat Khan Indian Chamber Orchestra and the Wajahat Khan World Music Ensemble. His stylistic contributions include technical adaptations to the sarod and integrating vocal forms such as dhrupad, khayal, and thumri into instrumental performance. Equally committed to education, he teaches and lectures internationally, directs the Academy of World Music in London, and actively engages in academic and outreach initiatives. His work stands as a bridge between classical tradition and contemporary global expression.