Profile: The Mishra Brothers

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The Bengal Classical Music Festival 2013 is not very far away, and in a build-up to the grandest classical musical in the world, Star Arts & Entertainment will be introducing some of the biggest maestros performing in it. The first installment of the series features a duo carrying forward a renowned family name.
The Mishra Brothers -- Pandit Rajan Mishra and Pandit Sajan Mishra -- are two renowned maestros of Indian Classical Music. They belong to a 400-year-old family tradition of great music masters from Banaras, India.
Both brothers have been trained in vocal music under the able guidance of their father, Pandit Hanuman Mishra. In 1979, they received the coveted Sanskrit Award for musical excellence from the Prime Minister of India.
Rajan and Sajan Mishra are renowned singers of the khayal style of Indian classical music. They were awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2007, “Sangeet Natak Akademi Award”, jointly in 1998, the Gandharwa National Award for 1994-1995 and the prestigious National Tansen Samman 2011-2012 on 14 December 2012.
Rajan (born 1951) and Sajan (born 1956) Mishra were born and brought up in Varanasi. They received their musical training from their grandfather Bade Ram Das Ji Mishra, father Hanuman Prasad Mishra and from uncle, sarangi virtuoso Gopal Prasad Mishra, and started performing while they were still in their teens. They moved to Ramesh Nagar in Delhi, in 1977, where they continue to live.
They were both accountants in a small shop when they gave a performance in the presences of Satguru Jagjit Singh. The Satguru, noticing their talent, offered to pay double their living wages in exchange for them to put in more time to practice their vocals. The rest was history and they gave their first concert abroad, was in Sri Lanka in 1978, and soon they went on to perform in many countries across the world including, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, USA, UK, The Netherlands, USSR, Singapore, Qatar, Bangladesh and Muscat.