Chaurasia started learning vocal music from his neighbour, Rajaram, at the age of 15. Later, he switched to playing the flute under the tutelage of
Bholanath Prasanna of
Varanasi for eight years. He joined the
All India Radio,
Cuttack,
Odisha in 1957 and worked as a composer and performer. Much later, while working for All India Radio, he received guidance from the reclusive
Annapurna Devi, daughter of
Baba Allaudin Khan. She only agreed to teach him if he was willing to unlearn all that he had learnt until then. Another version is that she only agreed to teach him after he took the decision to switch from right-handed to left-handed playing to show her his commitment. In any case Chaurasia plays left-handed to this day. Apart from classical music, Hariprasad has collaborated with
Shivkumar Sharma, forming a group called
Shiv-Hari. The pair composed music for many popular movies, including Silsila and Chandni, and created some highly popular songs. Chaurasia also collaborated with
Bhubaneswar Mishra, forming the pair "Bhuban-Hari" (in line with Shiv-Hari), and the pair composed music for many Odia movies, creating numerous songs that were hugely popular in the state. These include Muje janena kaha baata (sung by
Suman Kalyanpur; movie: Gapa helebi Sata); and all songs from Maa o Mamata, and many more. Chaurasia's nephew and pupil
Rakesh Chaurasia is also a flautist, and has been performing with artists such as
Zakir Hussain. He serves as the artistic director of the World Music Department at the Rotterdam Music Conservatory in the Netherlands. He was also the founder of the Vrindavan Gurukul in Mumbai (opened 2006) and Vrindavan Gurukul in Bhubaneshwar (opened 2010). Both of these institutes are schools dedicated to training students in
bansuri in the
Guru-shishya tradition. He has collaborated with several western musicians, including
John McLaughlin,
Jan Garbarek, and
Ken Lauber, and has composed music for Indian films. Chaurasia also played on
The Beatles' 1968 B-side "
The Inner Light", which was written by
George Harrison. He also played with George Harrison on his first solo release,
Wonderwall Music, and with Harrison, Ravi Shankar and others on the Dark Horse Records release
Shankar Family & Friends. ==Personal life==