‘The Brand Ambassador of Khanjira’ Vidwan Bangalore Sri Amrit N. is the leading and top ranking Khanjira Artiste of the world. His power packed performances filled with versatility, speed and intricate pattern presentation merged with musicality, aesthetics, grace & beauty have fascinated large audiences and achieved huge acclaim all over the globe.
Sri Amrit is the son of Virtuoso Violinist Vidwan Sri BASAVANAGUDI G.NATARAJ. He started learning Mridangam at the age of 5 under Vidwan Sri M. VASUDEVA RAO. Later on continuing advanced training under Vidwan Sri A.V. ANAND.
Sri Amrit had the fortune of learning Khanjira under 'Khanjira Legend' 'The One and Only' Vidwan Late. Sri G.HARISHANKAR {Chennai}. Sri Amrit is the worthy successor to the throne of his Guru Sri G. Harishankar. Upholding his Guru’s tradition and rich Legacy, Sri Amrit is taking it to greater heights.
Sri Amrit has also learned Violin & Vocal under his father Vidwan Sri BASAVANAGUDI G. NATARAJ & his sister Smt. Sunitha Ramabhadran.
SRI AMRIT IS THE YOUNGEST KHANIRA ARTISTE TO BE AWARDE WITH THE 'A-TOP GRADE' BY THE ALL INDIA RADIO, GOVT. OF INDIA.
Sri Amrit started performing at the age of 7. From then on he is performing with all Top artists of the country in major Sabhas & Music festivals both in India and abroad for over 35 years. He has been giving performances in AIR, Doordarshan, E TV, Udaya TV, Zee TV, Jaya TV,Vijay TV, Raj TV and many other private channels. He has featured in many National Level Festivals, Symphony orchestras, Percussion Ensembles, Jugal Bandhi s, Lecture Demonstrations, Fusion Concerts, Audio CDs, Cassettes, Movies & TV Serials. He has also composed and conducted for many musical and fusion projects. He is also associated with many cultural organizations.
A recipient of the CCRT Scholarship for Khanjira from the Ministry of Human Resource & Development, Sri Amrit is also a recipient of Karnataka State Scholarship for consecutive 3 years. He has won the I Prize in ALL INDIA RADIO National Level Competition for Khanjira & II Prize in the AIR National level Competition for Mridangam.
Sri Amrit has been awarded with awards and titles like “ARYABHATA YOUTH AWARD” “KHANJIRA PRAVEENA” “ANANYA YUVA PURASKARA” “CMANA PRIZE - 2004” “SALLARI GANA LAYA VITTHGAR” “YUVA KALA BHAARATI” "LAYAPRATHIBHAMANI” ”NADAJYOTHI PURASKARA” ”GURUKALASRI” “SATHYASHREE” “LALITHA KALA SUMA” given in recognition to his prowess & contribution in the field of Khanjira & Indian Percussion.
Sri Amrit is one of the main forces in bringing the Khanjira to the ‘Centre stage’ as a SOLO Instrument. He has many Khanjira Solo concerts to his credit. He is been conducting & performing many Percussion Ensembles & Fusion shows with Khanjira as the lead instrument for almost 20 years.
Sri Amrit has collaborated with international stars like Pandith Jasraj, Dr. M.Balamuralikrishna, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Dr. L. Subramaniam, Pandith Anindo Chaterjee, Mr. Louiz Banks, Pandith Vishwamohan Bhatt, Ustad Rashid Khan, Mr. A. Sivamani, Mr. Bernt Berger (Drums, Sweden), Mr. George Brooks (Saxophone, USA), Mr. Victor Wooten (Bass Guitar, USA), Ustad Shujath Khan (Sitar), Ustad Taufiq Qureshi, Pandith Yogesh Samsi, (Tabla) Pandith Rakesh Chaurasia (Bansuri), Pandith Shubhankar Banerjee (Tabla), Zohar Fresco (Israel), Andrea Picconi (Italy), Aleix Tobias (Spain), Abbos Kosimov (Uzbekistan), Pandith Shubendra Rao (Sitar), Pandith Ramdass Palsule (Tabla), Sri Mattanoor Sankarakutty Marar (Chanda), Thomas Stranon (Drums, Norway) Pandith Purbayan Chatterjee (Sitar), Stephen Devassy (Keyboards), Mr. Vijay Prakash many other world renowned musicians.
Sri Amrit has worked with Music Directors like 'Oscar Award Winner' Sri A.R.Rahman, Sri Nagendra (Rajan - Nagendra Duo), Sri Hamsalekha, Sri V. Manohar, ‘Grammy Award Winner’ Sri Ricky Kej & others.
Sri Amrit has performed with eminent artists like Dr. R .K. Srikantan, Prof. T. N. Krishnan, Dr. N. Ramani, Dr. T.K. Murthy, Mavelikkara Sri Velukutty Nair, Sri Palghat R. Raghu, Sri Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, Vellore Sri Ramabhadran, Prof. T.V. Gopalakrishnan, Prof. Trichy Shankaran, Guru Sri Karaikudi R. Mani, Prof. Yella Venkateshwara Rao, Sri T. V. Shankaranarayanan, Madurai Sri T. N. Seshagopalan, Dr. Kadri Gopalnath, Kum. A. Kanyakumari, Sri Aridwaramangalam A. K. Palanivel (Thavil), Thanjavur Sri Govindarajan (Thavil), Thiruvarur Bhakthsavatsalam, Chitravina Sri Ravikiran, Mysore Sri M. Nagaraj & Mysore Dr. M. Manjunath, Sri Ganesh & Sri Kumaresh, Sri Shashank Subramaniam & many others.
Sri Amrit is a prime member of ‘Sruthi Laya’ Percussion Ensemble lead by Guru Sri Kariakudi R. Mani for almost 2 decades. He performed with the HELSINKI PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA as a ‘Solo Artist’ & a member of ‘Sruthi Laya’ in 2010.
Sri Amrit performed as a ‘Solo Artist’ with world renowned musicians in the “GLOBAL SAI SYMPHONY” in 2015, to commemorate the 90th Birth anniversary of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Amrit performed as a ‘Solo Artist’ in ‘Sai Symphony’ by the WUPPERTAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA at The Historiche Stadthalle, Germany in May 2017. Amrit again performed as a ‘Solo Artist’ in Sai Symphony by the SHANXI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA at Taiyuan, Shanxi Province in North China in November 2017.
Sri Amrit is the head of a Percussion group ‘LAYA- NAADAAMRIT’ which, through the INDIAN COUNSIL FOR CULTURAL RELATIONS {I.C.C.R.} GOVT. OF INDIA, was invited to Mexico to perform in the prestigious CERVANTINO festival in 2011.
Sri Amrit has released a Solo album named 'khanjirAmrit' which is manly oriented on highlighting the scope, strength, beauty & other nuances of Khanjira as a Solo instrument.
Sri Amrit has been teaching a lot of students around the world, about various aspects of Indian Classical Music & Rhythm. Many of his students are performing in concerts. He has released an instructional educational DVD called “Khanjira - The journey within…” which is a very useful guide for learners to practice the traditional classical authentic way of Khanjira playing. This DVD has received huge acclaim among performers & learners worldwide.
Sri Amrit has conducted a Clinic on ‘MODERN KHANJIRA ART’ & gave a ‘Khanjira Solo’ performance in the PERCUSSIVE ARTS SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION - PASIC 2007 in Columbus {Ohio, USA}.
Sri Amrit has conducted many Workshops & Lecture Demonstrations for many prestigious institutions, which includes Berkley School of Music (BOSTON) & ARIZONA State University and more. His Lecture demonstration on “Sri G. Harishankar’s Playing Techinques of Khanjira” was awarded the ‘Best Lecture Demonstration Prize’ by the Madras Music Academy in 2011.
Vidwan Sri Amrit.N stands as a bastion of Indian Percussion upholding the tradition, classicism & authenticity of the art of Khanjira playing, which otherwise is a less privileged art form. He is contributing enormously towards placing Khanjira as a unique individual instrument as well as a SOLO instrument in the main stream of International & World Music.