Cassius Khan

As a key figure in this rare style of performance, he was named "Ustad" or Maestro in 2016 by Pt Salil Bhatt during the 5th Annual Mushtari Begum Festival of Indian Classical Music and Dance in New Westminster, British Columbia.[citation needed] Khan's early career met with limited success after the recording and international tour of his first album, Cassius Khan-The Young Tabla/Ghazal Wizard.Khan's Ghazal album Mushtari, a live concert, released in 2011, was nominated for "World Album of the Year" by the Western Canadian Music Awards (WCMA) and was a tribute to Khan's guru and teacher, Mushtari Begum, with a selection of classical Ghazals and a tabla solo recital.[citation needed] Khan has also collaborated with the inventor of the Mohan Veena, artist Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Satvik Veena performer Pandit Salil Bhatt, Kathak artist/Harmonium soloist Amika Kushwaha and many other figures of Indian classical music and Ghazal singers.With his wife, Amika Kushwaha, Khan founded the Mushtari Begum Festival of Indian Classical Music and Dance,[4][5] which took place for the first time on 25 August 2012 at the Massey Theatre in New Westminster, British Columbia.