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Artistic Visionary

Cassius Khan

Name: Cassius Khan

Year: 2015
Presented By: Anita Huberman, CEO, Surrey Board of Trade
Bio:

Cassius Khan is a classical musician known for playing the Tabla and Ghazal while singing. He is the most successful and recognisable Indian Classical musician in Canada. In 2001, Khan composed “Asia Music” for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics under the guidance of composer Jan Randall.

 

The piece he composed gained him international recognition as a composer. In 2005, Khan was the only Canadian musician of Indian heritage invited to perform Ghazal and a Tabla solo recital at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa as part of Alberta Scene Festival.

 

Khan is also the first Canadian who performed at the prestigious Sa Ma Pa Music Festival at Kamani Auditorium in New Delhi, India, on 23 November 2013. These accomplishments are a first for any Canadian Indian musician. Khan’s Ghazal album “Mushtari, a live concert” released in 2011, was nominated for World Album of the Year by the Western Canadian Music Awards (WCMA). This was the first ever album recorded in the world with Ghazal and tabla simultaneously by one artist.

 

He was awarded the ‘Salute to Excellence Award’ by the City of Edmonton for his immense contributions and honour he had brought in Indian classical music; he has lent his hands and voice to almost all genres of music, from Pop to Rock, to Electronica to Country, to World and Heavy Metal, to Blues and Roots. Khan is also the very first Canadian Indian classical musician to perform fusion collaborations with so many musicians from all genres of music, starting from the year 1987, and has been recognised as “Canada’s Multifaceted Musician.”

 

He is also an honorary Cultural Ambassador to the City of New Westminster.