Ghulam Hassan Shaggan
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Ustad Ghulam Hassan Shaggan (born 1928) is a Pakistani classical singer of the Gwalior Gharana. He was born in Amritsar in 1928. His father’s name was Bhai Lal Mohammad (d. 1962). Bhai Lal belonged to the Gwalior-Kapurthala Gharana and received training from his father Bhai Ata Mohammad, and later from Mian Mehboob Ali Khan Kapurthalwi (sitar nawaz) and Pandit Bhaskarbuwa Bakhle.
Ghulam Hassan Shaggan, along with his father and family, moved to Pakistan in 1947 and settled in Lahore. His father Bhai Lal was appointed music supervisor at Radio Pakistan where he started performing at Radio Pakistan. This was a time of intense emotional and financial troubles which abated over a period of 12 years, as Shaggan Sahib gained recognition and started performing more frequently at Radio Pakistan, The All Pakistan Music Conference (Established 1959), and other events in Pakistan and abroad.
Among several titles and awards, Shaggan Sahib received the Sangeet Samrat at the music conference in Calcutta in 1962, the Pride of Performance in 1988 and Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 2000 from the Government of Pakistan. Ustad Shaggan received countless awards and titles during his 1962 tour of India. He was conferred with the titles of Sangeet Rattan, Sangeet Alankar, Sangeet Samrat, Sindh Sangeet Mandalam and King of Music from the Sindh Sangeet Mandal in Bombay. On the same tour he was presented with a certificate of recognition by sarod maestro Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan.
In recent years, Ghulam Hassan Shaggan has received recognition in the Europe as an outstanding representative of the North-Indian classical music tradition. His talent was first recognized and expounded by French musicologists Gerard Kurgijian and Martina Catella which led to performances in France, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and the UK. Ghulam Hassan Shaggan also collaborated with the alternative/trance band Fun-Da-Mental, contributing an arrangement of his original bandish in Raag Bhopali to the band’s 2001 album, There Shall be Love!
Image:Ustad Fateh Ali Khan (left) giving Tufail Niazi Award to Ustad Shaggan.JPG
Shaggan Sahib currently lives in Iqbal Town, Lahore with his sons Qadir Shaggan (vocalist & music director) and Mazhar Shaggan (Rabab & mandolin player). At the age of 78, he continues to perform in public with youthful enthusiasm and the characteristic vigor of the Gwalior gayiki. He can be contacted at +92-42-7553303 and +92-300-9445107 and is ever accessible to well wishers and enthusiasts.
