Interview: It Was A Great Experience PLAYING SITAR WITH LADY GAGA - Fateh Ali Khan

Young sitar exponent Fateh Ali Khan belongs to an illustrious gharana of musicians. While the younger generation is increasingly looking towards rock, pop and other forms of western music, khan insists that classical music will always find a way into the heart if a true music lover. He says, "The history and tradition of Indian classical music is too deep rooted and any seasoned musician, no matter what genre they practice would agree that classical Indian music has a discipline and a nuance unmatched to anything.

The love for classical music amongst younger western musicians was also reflected when Lady Gaga who was on a tour to India, requested to have a classical instrumentalist during her concert. Fateh Ali Khan got the rare honor if being the only Indian chosen to perform alongside Lady Gaga. He recalls, "Lady Gaga expressed a wish to include sitar in her concert and when I was told about this we had very little time to rehearse before her concert. But we struck the right chord and just practiced once and gave the performance. Needless to say it was a moment of history and everyone loved it."

That has not being the only time when Khan has brought along two genres of music together. He is practising these days with Japanese artists for a big concert in Tokyo, Japan this June. He says, "I got a call from Japan foundation about a few artists from Japan who wanted to collaborate with classical Indian musicians. We got together and jammed and tried to build music around a Japanese story. It was challenging to overcome language barriers but hugely satisfying to see that artists all around speak the same language of music. Today western music can be played in classical format and classical music can be played in a western format. All we need is a passion to understand varying genres."