Antardrishti : Inner Vision

Baluji Shrivastav OBE is a blind musician who excels in playing the sitar, dilruba and tabla among other traditional Indian instruments. Described as ‘one of the greatest instrumentalists to come from India’ by the High Commissioner of India, and by London's Evening Standard as ‘sitarist to the stars’, his incredible versatility has led him to work with acts like Massive Attack, Stevie Wonder and Coldplay and of course many of India’s finest artists including Ustad Faiyaz Khan, Anindo Chatterji and Akram Khan. Baluji has released 8 albums through ARC Music including: ‘Classical Indian Sitar & Surbahar Ragas’, ‘Shadow of the Lotus’ and ‘Re-Orient - Indian World Music Fusion’. His latest album ‘Best of Baluji Shrivastav’ was released in 2017 on Arc Music. It was described by Songlines as an album of “convention-defying Indian compositions... you'll want to play over and over again” and received many airplays particularly on the BBC Radio network, including the World Service, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Asian Network. In 2008, he founded the UK registered charity Baluji Music Foundation (BMF) to encourage disabled people to get involved in music, music being such an important part of how he communicates with the world. Their motto is “sharing the joy of music” which they promote through performances, workshops, collaborations, research and inter-disciplinary and cross- cultural projects. They celebrate the power of music to transform lives. Baluji also set up the Inner Vision Orchestra (IVO), the UK’s only orchestra of blind and visually impaired musicians, to address their absence in the music industry in the UK. They have organised successful national tours across the UK since 2012 with over 30 concerts. Members of the IVO performed at the London 2012 closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games. They have also performed on national television and radio, including BBC World Service and BBC World News. Filmmaker Marie-Cécile Embleton is currently producing the documentary “Colours of Sound” about the ensemble and has made a documentary “Inner Vision Orchestra on Tour”. In 2016, Baluji was awarded the OBE for services to music. The same year, he also received the GG2 Achievement through Adversity Award and in 2017, he was awarded the prestigious NRI Awards from The Times Group India for Art & Culture, and a World Peace and Prosperity Foundation Award at the House of Lords. Further info about Baluji Music Foundation: balujimusicfoundation.org