Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan has been honoured with the 'Key to the City' award by Tulsa, a city in the Oklahoma state of the United States for his 'long-standing contribution' to classical music.
Khan along with his sons Amaan and Ayaan and Sukhvinder Singh Namdhari, a Tabla artist, were also conferred honorary citizenship of the city by Mayor Kathy Taylor.
Tulsa is the third US city to confer honourary citizenship on the Sarod legend. Houston and Nashville had made him their citizen in 1997. In 1984, Massachusetts had declared April 20 as Amjad Ali Khan Day.
Khan received the honour during a concert titled 'Raga-Melodies of India.' He was accompanied by his sons on the Sarod and by Sukhvinder on the Tabla. Apart from the concert, the Sarod exponent also delivered a lecture in the University of Tulsa.
The citation given with the award expressed 'sincere appreciation' of his contribution to the promotion of classical music and also recognized his 'outstanding performance' in the city of Tulsa, 'providing a totally unique experience in Indian classical music and in supporting ongoing efforts to promote cultural ties between the city of Tulsa and India.'
The concert was organised by the South Asian Performing Arts Foundation, a city-based organisation.