Legendary Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar, who has worked with musicians as famous as Yehudi Menuhin and the Beatles, has been honored for his services to music.
Ravi Shankar received an honorary CBE in India from Sir Rob Young, the British High Commissioner.
British Culture Secretary Chris Smith said: “I am delighted Ravi Shankar has been given this honor. Ravi has long been recognised as one of the greatest exponents of Indian classical music. He has also introduced post war generations throughout the West to the complexity and beauty of sitar music.
“His influence has enabled bridges to be built between Indian music and Western classical and pop music - through his work with, for example, Yehudi Menuhin and later, the Beatles. Menuhin himself spoke of Ravi Shankar's ‘genius and his humanity’. It was a generous and an apt tribute.”
Shankar, who is now in his early eighties, achieved international fame in the 1960s following his association with the Beatles, teaching George Harrison and even being regarded as the group’s ‘guru’.
Thu Feb 8 2001 (4:47:08 PM)
