Chaurasia started learning vocal music from his neighbour, Rajaram, at the age of 15. Later, he switched to playing the flute under the tutelage of Bholanath Prasanna of Varanasi for eight years. He joined the All India Radio, Cuttack, Odisha in 1957 and worked as a composer and performer.[2][5] Much later, while working for All India Radio, he received guidance from the reclusive Annapurna Devi, daughter of Baba Allaudin Khan. She only agreed to teach him if he was willing to unlearn all that he had learnt until then.[6] Another version is that she only agreed to teach him after he took the decision to switch from right-handed to left-handed playing to show her his commitment.[7] In any case Chaurasia plays left-handed to this day. Apart from classical music, Hariprasad has collaborated with Shivkumar Sharma, forming a group called Shiv-Hari.[8] The pair composed music for many popular movies, including Silsila and Chandni, and created some highly popular songs. Chaurasia also collaborated with Bhubaneswar Mishra, forming the pair "Bhuban-Hari" (in line with Shiv-Hari), and the pair composed music for many Odia movies, creating numerous songs that were hugely popular in the state. These include Muje janena kaha baata (sung by Suman Kalyanpur; movie: Gapa helebi Sata); and all songs from Maa o Mamata, and many more. Chaurasia's nephew and pupil Rakesh Chaurasia is a highly accomplished flautist now, and has been performing globally with such eminent maestros as Ustad Zakir Hussain. He serves as the artistic director of the World Music Department at the Rotterdam Music Conservatory in the Netherlands[citation needed]. He was also the founder of the Vrindavan Gurukul in Mumbai (opened 2006) and Vrindavan Gurukul in Bhubaneshwar (opened 2010). Both of these institutes are schools dedicated to training students in bansuri in the Guru-shishya tradition.[9]

Pandit Jasraj (28 January 1930 – 17 August 2020)[4] was an Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Mewati gharana (musical apprenticeship lineage).[5] His musical career spanned 75 years resulting in national and international fame, respect and numerous major awards and accolades. His legacy includes memorable performances of classical and semi-classical vocal music, classical and devotional music, albums and film soundtracks, innovations in various genres including Haveli Sangeeth and popularizing the Mewati Gharana - a school of thought in Hindustani classical music. Pandit Jasraj taught music to amateur and professional students in India, Europe, Canada and the United States.

Lata Mangeshkar ([ləˈtaː məŋˈɡeːʃkər] (listen)) (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022)[8] was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers in India.[9][10] Her contribution to the Indian music industry in a career spanning eight decades gained her honorific titles such as the "Queen of Melody", "Nightingale of India", and "Voice of the Millennium".[11] Lata recorded songs in over thirty-six Indian languages and a few foreign languages, though primarily in Marathi, Hindi, and Bengali.[11] Her foreign languages included English, Russian, Dutch, Nepali, and Swahili.[12] She received several accolades and honors throughout her career. In 1989, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award was bestowed on her by the Government of India.[13] In 2001, in recognition of her contributions to the nation, she was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour; she is only the second female singer, after M. S. Subbulakshmi, to receive this honour.[14] France conferred on her its highest civilian award, Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, in 2007.[15] She was the recipient of three National Film Awards, 15 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards, four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards, two Filmfare Special Awards, the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award and many more. In 1974, she was one of the first Indian playback singers to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK. Her last recorded song was "Saugandh Mujhe Is Mitti ki" released on 30 March 2019 as a tribute to the Indian Army and the Nation.[16] At one point, she appeared in the Guinness World Records, which listed her as the most recorded artist in history between 1948 and 1987.[17

Tansen (c. 1493/1500 – 26 April 1589), also referred to as Miyan Tan Sen or Ramtanu Pande, was a prominent figure of Hindustani classical music.[4] Born in a Hindu brahmin family,[5] he learnt and perfected his art in the northwest region of modern Madhya Pradesh. He began his career and spent most of his adult life in the court and patronage of the Hindu king of Rewa, Raja Ramchandra Singh (r.1555–1592), where Tansen's musical abilities and studies gained widespread fame.[4] This reputation brought him to the attention of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, who sent messengers to Raja Ramchandra Singh, requesting Tansen to join the musicians at the Mughal court. Tansen did not want to go, but Raja Ramchandra Singh encouraged him to gain a wider audience, and sent him along with gifts to Akbar. In 1562, about the age of 60, the Vaishnava[6] musician Tansen joined the Akbar's court, and his performances became a subject of many court historians.[4] Numerous legends have been written about Tansen, mixing facts and fiction, and the historicity of these stories is doubtful.[7] Akbar considered him one of the Navaratnas (the nine jewels), and gave him the title Mian, an honorific, meaning learned man.[8] Tansen was a composer, musician and vocalist, to whom many compositions have been attributed in northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. He was also an instrumentalist who popularized and improved musical instruments. He is among the most influential personalities in North Indian tradition of Indian classical music, called Hindustani. His 16th-century studies in music and compositions inspired many, and he is considered by numerous North Indian gharana (regional music schools) to be their lineage founder.[9][10]

Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi (/ˌbiːmsɛn ˈdʒoʊʃɪ/ (listen); BHEEM-SAYN joe-SHEE; 4 February 1922 – 24 January 2011), also known by the honorific prefix Pandit, was one of the greatest Indian vocalists from India, in the Hindustani classical tradition. He is known for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music (bhajans and abhangs). Joshi belongs to the Kirana gharana tradition of Hindustani Classical Music. He is noted for his concerts, and between 1964 to 1982 Joshi toured Afghanistan, Italy, France, Canada and USA. He was the first musician from India whose concerts were advertised through posters in New York City.[1][2] Joshi was instrumental in organising the Sawai Gandharva Music Festival annually, as homage to his guru, Sawai Gandharva.[3] In 1998, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour conferred by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.[4] Subsequently, he received the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, in 2009.[5]