First, there is the radio program, "Music From India" broadcast from 7 - 9 pm every Sunday night on WDUQ. During the first 90 minutes they play popular (film) music, but the last half hour is devoted to classical music, often with a little music lesson thrown in. We have been listening to this program since 1974, when we returned from a trip to India, long enough so that the tones sound very familiar and comfortable to our ears. Then there is SPIC MACAY - the Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth - a group sponsored by CMU which brings classical musicians to CMU for free concerts (and not limited to students). These musicians stay in Pittsburgh over several days and present classes and demonstrations to the CMU music students. The Pitt Music Department also brings classical Indian musicians to Pittsburgh for concerts at the Frick Fine Arts theater at very reasonable price. These masters also give classes and demonstrations to the Pitt music students. Through the efforts of these two organizations, we have been able to hear the following artists in person:

Hari Prasad Chaurasia on the bamboo flute Half a flute, half a recorder, half a shakuhachi, but with a totally Indian sound. The soul of India comes through his music.
Shivkumar Sharma on the santoor The santoor is originally a Persian instrument which sounds like a hammered dulcimer and looks like a zither.
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt on the guitar Bhatt holds his guitar horizontally on his lap and plays it as a slide guitar, to which he has added several drone strings.
Zakir Hussein on the tabla "The ubiquitous Zakir Hussein" - he has been here with Chaurasia and Sharma, and with his father, Alla Rahka, a distinguished tabla master himself. Zakir has "crossed over" to play with the Grateful Dead and other American groups. And yet! I cannot find a good web page devoted to him! Perhaps I'll have to do it myself!

Our favorite place to order CDs of these artists is Khazana.com

Click here for our pictures from Amarnath.