Anoushka Shankar

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Anoushka Shankar

Background information
Born	June 9, 1981 (age 25)
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Indian classical
Occupation(s)	Sitarist, composer
Instrument(s)	sitar
Years active	1998—present
Label(s)	Angel
Website	AnoushkaShankar.com

Anoushka Shankar (b. June 9, 1981) a sitar player and composer in the United Kingdom. She is the daughter of Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player, and Sukanya Rajan. Through her father, she is the half-sister of Grammy winner Norah Jones.

Shankar was born in London. When she was nine years old, her father began training her in the sitar. She gave a public performance at the age of thirteen; since then she has become a world famous sitar artist.

In 1998, Shankar played at a gala dinnner for guests including British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, in recognition of which she was presented with a House of Commons Shield. In February 2000, Shankar became the first woman to perform at The Ramakrishna Centre in Calcutta. The Indian Television Academy, Asmi, and India Times chose her as one of four Women of the Year in India in 2003. In 2004 she was chosen as one of twenty Asian Heroes by the Asia edition of Time magazine.

Her album Rise was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Contemporary World Music category. This was Shankar's second Grammy nomination. She also became the first Indian woman to perform at the Grammy Awards when she performed during the pre-telecast ceremony of the 48th awards.

The name "Anoushka" was inspired by a very good friend of the family – Dr Anne Pennington – and the Russian version came because of the then-popularity of the actress Anoushka Hempel.

She played sitar at the concert for George Harrison called "Concert for George", held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on November 29, 2002 as a memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death.

Shankar is a supporter of animal rights and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). She and her father appeared in a thirty-second public-service announcement against animal suffering.[1]