Ustad Ghulam Siraj Niazi is a veteran in the Hindustani classic music scene. He was born in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh and was initiated into music at the age of nine. He belongs to the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana, a discipline which holds an important position in the classic music schools both in India and overseas. Ustad moved to Hong Kong with his family more than 20 years ago and has also trained his son, Mehdi Hasan Niazi, in the art of Indo-Pakistani classical music.
During his career, Ustad was featured many a time on all-India radio shows as well as Doordarshan, which was one of the only television channels in earlier days. He has also been performing on stage since the past three decades and has also been featured on the Hong Kong Radio Television. He was trained in the Khayal Gayaki, the traditional style of the gharana. It highlights the systemic Badhat of the Raaga and graceful Taans. Apart from classical music, Ustad has good command over light vocals as well. He also teaches Indian classical music to several students around the world.
Mr Niazi is also the chairman of the Padmabhushan Ustad Mushtaq Husain Khan Association (PUMHKA), founded in the memory of his grandfather to give a platform and support classical musicians worldwide. Some musicians associated with PUMHKA are Grammy Nominee Padma Vibhushan Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, late Padma Vibhushan Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Padma Bhushan Pandit Rajan and Padma Shri Hariharan. The association organizes various musical events and concerts to showcase talents from this genre of music.
