Anoushka Shankar
Contact Information

Anoushka Shankar is a British sitar player and composer of Indian descent. She was born on June 9, 1981, in London, England. Her father is the famed sitar player and composer, Ravi Shankar. Under her father’s expert tutelage, she began playing the sitar at the age of 9. She debuted on the professional stage at the age of 13 and began touring worldwide with her father. Alongside her father’s more traditional teaching, Shankar discovered electronic music and started experimenting with electronic beats and Indian classical music. She released her debut self-titled album Anoushka in 1998 and has released several more albums since. Shankar has collaborated with many artists of many genres, including Rodrigo y Gabriela, Jules Buckley, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Alongside writing and producing her own music, Shankar has composed for several films like The British Film Institute’s restoration of the silent film Shiraz and Mira Nair’s A Suitable Boy. Shankar has earned several Grammy nominations for her work. She is also the youngest and first female recipient of a British House of Commons Shield.