Rakesh Chaurasia Wiki, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

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Rakesh Chaurasia is an Indian flautist known for playing the bansuri, an Indian bamboo flute. He is the nephew of the renowned flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia. In 2023, he won two Grammy Awards at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.

Contents

Wiki/Biography

Rakesh Chaurasia was born on Wednesday, 13 January 1971 (age 53 years; as of 2024) in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. His zodiac sign is Capricorn.

A young-age photo of Rakesh Chaurasia playing a flute

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 9″

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Black

Family

Parents & Siblings

There is not much information about his parents and siblings.

Wife & Children

His wife’s name is Nandani Chaurasia. The couple has two sons named Ritik Chaurasia and Pratik Chaurasia.

Rakesh Chaurasia with his wife and sons

Other Relatives

Rakesh Chaurasia is the nephew of the famous Indian music director and classical flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia.

Rakesh Chaurasia with Hariprasad Chaurasia

Career

In 2001, he released an album titled ‘Parables of Passion – Farewell’ with the tabla player Yogesh Samsi.

Poster of the 2001 album ‘Parables of Passion – Farewell’

He has released many music albums including ‘Mystic Soundscapes Wind’ (2007), ‘Call of the Divine’ (2013), ‘Finesse On Flute’ (2019), ‘ZaRa’ (2022). He has performed with artists like famous Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain at many musical events in India and many overseas countries including Japan, China, England, and Greece.

Rakesh Chaurasia performing with Zakir Hussain

Awards, Honours, Achievements

2007: Indian Music Academy Award

2008: Aditya Birla Kalakiran Purasakar

2011: Guru Shishya Award

2013: IWAP-Pandir Jasraj Sangeet Ratna Award

2013: Pannala Ghosh Puraskar

2017: ‘Indian of the Year’ Award

2023: Best Global Music Performance Award for ‘Pashto’ at the 66th Grammy Awards

2023: Best Contemporary Instrumental Album Award for the album ‘As We Speak’ at the 66th Grammy Awards

Facts/Trivia

In an interview, he said that if he had not become a flautist he would be a driver as he loved to drive.

He once expressed his desire to perform with American smooth jazz saxophonist Kenny G.

In November 2019, he participated in a 12.5 km marathon and won a medal.
Rakesh Chaurasia at a marathon event

During an interview, while talking about his practice schedule, he said,

I prefer to practise in the mornings because it’s much quieter no mobile, no phone calls. With no external disturbances, the practice becomes much more focused. One can focus on every note, you can feel the vibrations, you know.”

He is a fitness enthusiast and is often spotted working out at a gym.
Rakesh Chaurasia working out at a gym

In an interview, he shared a memorable incident from one of his music concerts and said,

Every concert is memorable, we at least try to make it memorable (laughs) but I can remember a concert in Nagpur where towards the end, we had no electricity, but I didn’t realise it because I was very engrossed in my playing. It was surprising to see newspapers splashing this fact the next day. I feel the times when you get engrossed in your playing so much that you forget about everything else that happens once in your lifetime. Normally what happens is that if the sound is gone, we stop, because there’s a big drop but I couldn’t recognise there was no sound, the audience too had maintained pin-drop silence so I enjoyed and the audience too enjoyed it.”