Ravi Shankar Foundation

Ravi Shankar Foundation
Name	Ravi Shankar Foundation
Founded	2012
Founder	Ravi Shankar
Location	Los Angeles, New Delhi
Focus	Preservation of Hindustani classical music, cultural education, archival projects
Key people	Norah Jones, Anoushka Shankar, Philip Glass, George Harrison

Ravi Shankar Foundation is a nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to preserving, promoting, and facilitating access to the artistic legacy of Ravi Shankar and related traditions. The Foundation supports archival preservation, scholarly research, educational outreach, and cross-cultural performance initiatives, working with musicians, institutions, and media partners worldwide. It operates programs that connect historical materials with contemporary artists, ensembles, and academic centers.

History

The Foundation was established in the aftermath of Ravi Shankar's later career and posthumous estate planning, building on earlier collaborations with figures such as George Harrison, Yoko Ono, Philip Glass, Asha Bhosle, and Ali Akbar Khan. Early archival activities drew on donations from Norah Jones and artifacts previously held by London galleries and the Smithsonian Institution. Initial public projects included exhibitions curated alongside Tate Modern, The British Library, Royal Albert Hall, and the Carnegie Hall programming teams. Over time the Foundation engaged with academic partners including UCLA, University of Oxford, Council on Library and Information Resources, Columbia University, and University of California, Berkeley to catalog manuscripts, recordings, and correspondence with artists such as Yehudi Menuhin, Duke Ellington, Zubin Mehta, L. Subramaniam, and George Martin.

Mission and Programs

The Foundation’s mission centers on preservation, education, and creative exchange, developing programs in partnership with organizations like UNESCO, Getty Foundation, Smithsonian Folkways, Library of Congress, and British Council. Core programs include archival digitization initiatives in collaboration with National Centre for the Performing Arts (India), fieldwork grants through Ford Foundation-style funding models, artist residencies hosted at Mati Ghar (Ravindra Natya Mandir), and intercultural concert series co-produced with Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Royal Albert Hall, and Sydney Opera House. Educational outreach encompasses workshops with conservatories such as Juilliard School, Royal Academy of Music, Berklee College of Music, and university courses at University of Oxford and Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Governance and Leadership

The Foundation is governed by a board featuring figures from music, scholarship, and cultural institutions, with advisory input from artists and curators associated with Anoushka Shankar, Norah Jones, Philip Glass, Zubin Mehta, and administrators from Smithsonian Institution and British Library. Executive leadership has included directors with prior roles at Carnegie Hall, Tate Modern, Getty Foundation, and academic positions at UCLA and Columbia University. The board has consulted curators from Victoria and Albert Museum, legal counsel experienced with estates such as John Lennon's, and archivists who worked with collections at the Library of Congress and National Archives.

Partnerships and Collaborations

The Foundation has undertaken projects with a wide network of partners, including cultural institutions like Smithsonian Institution, British Library, Tate Modern, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Opera House, and academic centers at University of Oxford, Columbia University, Juilliard School, and Berklee College of Music. Collaborative recordings and performances have involved artists and ensembles such as Anoushka Shankar, Norah Jones, Philip Glass, George Harrison, Yo-Yo Ma, Zubin Mehta, Asha Bhosle, Ali Akbar Khan, L. Subramaniam, John McLaughlin, and orchestras like the London Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Media collaborations included partnerships with BBC Radio 3, NPR, PBS, BBC Proms, and labels such as ECM Records, Harmonia Mundi, Nonesuch Records, and Smithsonian Folkways.

Funding and Financials

The Foundation secures funding through philanthropic grants, individual donors, and project-based partnerships with organizations including Ford Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Getty Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Council England, and corporate sponsorships from entities that have supported projects at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Revenue streams have also included licensing agreements with record labels like Nonesuch Records and Harmonia Mundi and ticketed events at venues such as Royal Albert Hall. Financial oversight follows nonprofit reporting standards used by institutions like Smithsonian Institution and Museum of Modern Art.

Impact and Legacy

The Foundation’s archival releases, curated exhibitions, and educational programs have influenced scholarship at University of Oxford, Columbia University, UCLA, and Jawaharlal Nehru University and informed performances by artists including Anoushka Shankar, Norah Jones, Philip Glass, and Yo-Yo Ma. Its digitization projects have been integrated into collections at the British Library and the Library of Congress, while curated concerts have appeared on stages from Carnegie Hall to the BBC Proms. The Foundation’s work contributed to renewed interest in collaborations between South Asian and Western musicians exemplified by projects involving George Harrison, Philip Glass, John McLaughlin, Yo-Yo Ma, and Zubin Mehta, and supported pedagogical materials used in conservatories such as Juilliard School and Berklee College of Music.

Category:Cultural organizations Category:Music archives