Cassius Khan

Khan is also endorsed by Sangeet Natak Akademi award recipients, the tabla makers Ustad Qasim Khan Niyazi and Sons in Laxminagar, New Delhi, India as their official spokesperson and is also endorsed by Aman Kalyan’s Lehra Studio apps based in Sydney, Australia. He is also the Curator of the ‘Massey Unlimited Global Tea Series with Cassius Khan’ at the Massey Theatre in New Westminster BC, Canada. Khan is also a visiting music instructor at the International private Mulgrave School where he teaches young students Indian Classical music.

In Vancouver, Canada, the young Khan met Mushtari Begum, a Ghazal singer, Sheikh Mohyudean, a harmonium / Qawaali singer, and Ustad Rukhsar Ali, a Tabla player. He subsequently began his tutelage under the guidance of these musicians and would later combine his musical disciplines. Khan mastered the ability to sing Ghazal and play the Tabla simultaneously which garnered him respect and attention in the Indian classical music world. Khan's repertoire also include the Tarannum Ang Gayaki while playing the Tabla, which is a very difficult talent, and has made this aspect his trademark style. Khan has been crowned as the chief architect in this rare style of performance, and his contribution has been etched into the world of Indian classical music when he was crowned "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, BC, Canada.

Khan was awarded the 'Salute to Excellence Award' by the City of Edmonton for his immense contributions and honour he had brought in Indian classical music as well as "Artist of the Year" nominations by the City of New Westminster Chamber of Commerce in 2016 and 2017, he has lent his hands and voice to almost all genres of music, from Pop to Rock, to Electronica to Country, to World and Heavy Metal, to Blues and Roots. Khan is also the very first Canadian Indian classical musician to perform fusion collaborations with musicians from all genres of music since 1990 and has been recognised as "Canada's Most recognized Multifaceted Musician." Khan also performed for the United Nations, WIPO and the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva Switzerland for Namaste Geneva, an initiative created by the Indian Ambassador to the UN, His Excellency Rajiv Chander.

In 2001, Khan composed "Asia Music" for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics under the guidance of composer Jan Randall. The piece he composed gained him international recognition as a composer. In 2005, Khan was the only Canadian musician of Indian heritage invited to perform Ghazal and a Tabla solo recital at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa as part of Alberta Scene Festival. Khan was then invited by the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival to present his first classical Ghazal and Tabla recital concert in a Canadian Folk festival in 2006. Khan was also among few selected out of 8,000 applicants to showcase Ghazal/Tabla at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas in 2008. That same year Ellen McIlwaine and Cassius Khan were invited to perform for Junofest as they were shortlisted for the 2008 Juno Awards for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year and were invited to perform at the Juno Awards in Calgary alongside Ellen McIlwaine. The following year Khan was a featured artist for the Canadian Music Week. Khan's recordings were also selected for the Japan Trade Mission in 2009. Khan is also the first Canadian who performed at the prestigious Sa Ma Pa Music Festival at Kamani Auditorium in New Delhi India on 23 November 2013. Since then, Khan has performed in festivals around the world.

In the hopes that Indian Classical musicians and dancers have a proper platform for public performance in Canada, he along with his wife, Amika Kushwaha, founded the Mushtari Begum Festival of Indian Classical Music and Dance, debuting on 25 August 2012 at the Massey Theatre in New Westminster, BC, Canada. Khan has stated that public support for this festival is still very low, and hopes to grow the festival in the years to come. Already, however, the Mushtari Begum Festival has become recognised as Canada's most elite festival of Indian Classical Music.

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 his guru and teacher, the late Mushtari Begum, with a selection of choice classical Ghazals and a tabla solo recital. This was the first ever album recorded in the world with Ghazal and tabla simultaneously by one artist. He also released a tabla solo single titled "Sparks of Energy" in 2011. Both of these albums feature Khan's wife, Amika Kushwaha as the brilliant Harmonium soloist.

Khan, known for his honesty, kindness, and generosity is also known for his fearlessness. He refused to perform in Israel in 2009 in solidarity with how Palestinians were treated. He has been publicly critical on his intense dislike to the term World Music and is disappointment on the fact that the Canadian Music scene needs to open its doors to music of non-Western disciplines. He was also critical about the 2005 Albertascene Festival which stirred up a lot of controversy, in which he bluntly told the media about his disappointment on money mismanagement on the festival's behalf as the artists who performed there were misled about receiving music contracts, wages, accommodation and food. He worked undercover for the Edmonton Journal to expose racism in some local nightclubs, which also stirred a lot of controversy at the time.

Khan was signed by the Yarlowe Artist Group in 2008 but unfortunately in later 2009, Khan fired his management on the grounds of theft, fraud and career jeopardisation. Khan joined Reboot Management in 2016 and also dissolved the venture four months later due to incompetence.

Other selected collaborations include the ground breaking collaboration "Dark Clouds" (2006) with Jazz pianist Stu Goldberg ( the lead keyboardist to John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra) a prized collaboration with Slide Guitar legend Ellen McIlwaine to record "Mystic Bridge" which is a ground breaking Blues/Indian music album which was shortlisted for the Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year in 2008 , "I Feel Love Again" (2002) with Mediterranean Guitarist Pavlo, "Mani Licks" (2002) with Heavy Metal/Shredder Guitarist Dan Mani,"A Demon's Dream" (2002) with Acoustic/Electric Guitar wizard Dave Martone, and "The Alchemists" (2002) with Dave Martone, and "Angel of Sevilla" (1990) with the late Spanish Guitarist D'Arcy Greaves.

Khan lives in New Westminster, British Columbia. He married Kathak dancer Amika Kushwaha in 2006 and are each other's chief accompanists in either her solo Kathak dance concerts or his Ghazal and tabla concerts and teach privately from their home studio.

Cassius Khan (born 7 June 1974), is a Canadian Indian classical musician known for playing the Tabla while singing.

Khan is an avid Mercedes Benz diesel enthusiast, and has owned a number of the 300D models. His trademark Mercedes are a 1973 W114 220D and a 1992 W124 300D 2.5 Turbo. He also owns a 1991 Nissan Figaro. He also loves to paint stylised Indian art, and has had some of his works on public display in art galleries. Khan has donated a portion of his earnings to orphanages around the world and was the very first human being on earth to donate $10,000.00 of his concert earnings to the victims of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.