Internationally recognized Indian musician and sitar virtuoso Shujaat Husain Khan will be on campus Oct. 9-11 as the first Gordhan L. and Virginia B. “Jinx” Patel Distinguished Visiting Professor in Indian Musical Arts.
Khan, who has been playing the sitar since the age of 3, will present a concert Oct. 11 at 3 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall, followed by a public reception at the Lamar Dodd School of Art. He also will teach master classes in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music Oct. 9 and 10, coordinated by Hodgson faculty member Jean Kidula.
Khan is the first musician to fill the new professorship, created to honor long-time UGA faculty member, dean of the Graduate School and former vice president for research Gordhan Patel and his wife, Jinx. Gordhan Patel retired from the university in 2005, but he and his wife have stayed active in university interests. His research focused on the molecular biology of chromosomal proteins.
“Having such a respected artist as Shujaat Khan on campus is a great honor, and one worthy of Gordhan and Jinx, whose contributions to this campus have been extraordinary,” said Garnett S. Stokes, dean of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, of which the Hodgson School of Music is a part.
Khan comes from a family of sitar artists in Indian, stretching back many generations. He has performed at music festivals around the world for many years and developed his own unique style of playing Indian classical music. He has performed in such venues as the Royal Albert Hall in London and Royce Hall in Los Angeles and has been a featured soloist with symphony orchestras.
“In our global campus today, understanding one another and our diversity of cultures and artistic lives has never been more vital,” said Dale Monson, director of the music school. “Bringing an artist of the brilliance and reputation of Shujaat Khan to our campus will both enrich and educate our community, opening a window into this rich musical tradition. We are thrilled to have him visit.”
“When the board of the UGA Research Foundation resolved to endow a professorship with $500,000 funding in my name when I retired, I was extremely pleased and humbled,” said Patel. “Jinx and I decided to place it in the musical arts because, although both of us are scientists, we feel the arts have enhanced the quality of our lives in Athens. We specifically chose Indian classical music because it is the oldest form of music with a tradition of several thousand years and is not represented significantly at American universities. So, we wanted UGA to be a leader in this form of music.”
Khan is a native of Calcutta, and he is, in addition to being a noted sitar virtuoso, a singer of note.
“This celebration is a wonderful ribbon-cutting to the legacy that now opens in the Hodgson School of Music,” said Monson. “This event each year will honor Dr. Gordhan Patel for his many contributions and years of service devoted to UGA. It was the Patels’ desire to focus this endowment directly on the education of our students and community. This distinguished professorship will enrich and expand our educational vision, drawing us closer to an important world tradition.”
