Shankar, Ravi, 1920-2012

Ravi Shankar 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012, born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury (Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury in Hindi), his name often preceded by the title Pandit (Master) and "Sitar maestro", was an Indian musician and a composer of Hindustani classical music; started travelling to Europe and the United Staes at age 10 with his brother's dance group; gave up dance career in 1938 to study music; worked as a music director for All India Radio (AIR), New Delhi, from February 1949 – January 1956; resigned from AIR in 1956 to tour the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States; Shankar befriended Richard Bock, founder of World Pacific Records, on his first American tour and recorded most of his albums in the 1950s and 1960s for Bock's label. The Byrds recorded at the same studio and heard Shankar's music, which led them to incorporate some of its elements in theirs, introducing the genre to their friend George Harrison of the Beatles. In 1967, Shankar performed a well-received set at the Monterey Pop Festival. Shankar won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for West Meets East, a collaboration with Yehudi Menuhin. performed at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969; In October 1970, Shankar became chair of the department of Indian music of the California Institute of the Arts after previously teaching at the City College of New York, the University of California, Los Angeles, and being guest lecturer at other colleges and universities, including the Ali Akbar College of Music; Beatles guitarist George Harrison, who was first introduced to Shankar's music by American singers Roger McGuinn and David Crosby;