Music growing in young Indians: Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

United Nations: Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan says he is pleased to see that India now has a growing number of young musicians and artists who are extremely talented in playing classical instruments like the sarod, tabla and sitar.

The maestro, accompanied by his sons Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan, performed here yesterday at the `Music for Peace` concert, organised by the UN Academic Impact and the Indian mission to the UN co-inciding with Nowruz, the spring festival marking the Iranian New Year. Khan said he is "very happy" to see youngsters in India turning to music, adding that technology and social media has proved to be an advantage for them. "I am very happy that there are many musicians in India in Amaan and Ayaan`s generation, much more than what we had several years ago. We have very talented young sitar and table players, vocalists and dancers. All of them are at an advantageous situation because of the growth of technology and online platforms which we did not have earlier," Khan told. He said sarod is also becoming popular day by day because of its appealing sound and quality? "Today in India there are a lot of Sarod players, may be I inspired them," he said. Highlighting the role of music in promoting peace, Khan said he is keen to see music being used as a means to spread peace and tranquility in the world. "We are very keen that through music there should be peace all over. So many countries like Syria, Egypt today are facing war," he said as he dedicated his concert to world peace and harmony. In the US for the past one month, the maestro and his sons have performed to packed auditoriums in Massachusetts, Ithaca, California and Indiana. Amaan and Ayaan gave duet performances to packed halls at the prestigious Getty Centre in Los Angeles.