Archives West Finding Aid

Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar was the world's most renowned exponent of India's Rudra veena , the instrumental ancestor of the Sitar. He was also one of the few masters of Dhrupad , the slow, austere, meditative traditional music still performed as it was centuries ago by Dagar forefathers in the Mughal courts. He was born on March 14, 1929, in the town of Udaipur,Rajasthan. He began his training under the tutelage of his father , Ustad Ziauddin Khan Dagar, court musician for the Maharaj of Udaipur. He had performed all over the world and also he was affiliated with the American society of eastern arts in Berkeley, California and taught for many years at the university of Washington in Seattle and Rotterdam Music Conservatory in Holland. In 1990 , Ustad was awarded by Kalidas Samman, one of the most prestigious award of the country , by M.P. Government. He had also received Sangeet Natak Academy Award , Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Academy award, Maharana Kumbha award and many more.

Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar redesigned and innovated the traditional veena. His contribution in improving the sound of Veena is historical. He added more deeper and base sound to the playing of veena. He captured the subtle unique character of each Raga often depends on accentuating the sharp ,flat or very flat qualities of certain notes; and it was the perfect rendering of these subtleties that became a Dagar trademark. In a deliberate and unhurried fashion , he unfolded and revealed each note of the Alap movement , the slow , serene solo exposition of Raga – hypnotically, hauntingly coaxing and stretching the most delicately shaded nuances , the notes between the notes, from the thick bronze strings.

- Dhrupad.org