Arjun Verma is a sitarist trained by the legendary Maestro Ali Akbar Khan. His playing is based on the musical approach of his teacher. He has developed innovative sitar techniques inspired by the Maestro’s style, and is also influenced by sitarist Nikhil Banerjee. Arjun’s playing also incorporates musical elements drawn from his long apprenticeship with his father, Roop Verma (internationally performing sitarist and a disciple of Ali Akbar Khan and Ravi Shankar). The combination of these influences results in a style encompassing the deeply contemplative as well as the exhilarating elements of Indian Music.
Arjun began performing at the age of seven, and has played concerts in the United States, Europe, and India, including performances with Alam Khan, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, Fareed Haque, Pandit Sharda Sahai, Ustad Shabbir Nisar, Kai Eckhardt, Krishna Das, Maya Kherani, Salar Nader, Nilan Chaudhuri, Indranil Mallick, Anirban Roy Chowdhury, Sean Panikkar, Andriana Chuchman, and the St. Louis Symphony.
Arjun has continued his training under the able guidance of Ali Akbar Khan’s son, Alam Khan. Arjun has also received guidance from Smt. Annapurna Devi.
In addition to performing, Arjun teaches sitar and North Indian Classical Music at the Ali Akbar College of Music, the East-West School of Music, and the California Jazz Conservatory.
He will be accompanied by tabla player Nilan Chaudhuri. Nilan Chaudhuri has spent his life immersed in the tradition of Indian classical percussion. Initiated into Tabla at the age of five by his father, Swapan Chaudhuri, Nilan has performed as a Tabla soloist and accompanist for nearly twenty years. He’s shared the stage with some of Hindustani Classical Music’s greatest treasures, like maestros Alam Khan, Shujaat Khan, Ramesh Misra, and Amjad Ali Khansaib at venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Fillmore, Fox Theater, and San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center. In addition to maintaining a busy performing schedule, Nilan teaches Tabla throughout the Bay Area as a faculty member at the Ali Akbar College of Music, in San Rafael, and as the Director of percussion at Chitresh Das Institute in San Mateo.
Arjun Verma is a sitarist trained by the legendary Maestro Ali Akbar Khan. His playing is based on the musical approach of his teacher. He has developed innovative sitar techniques inspired by the Maestro’s style, and is also influenced by sitarist Nikhil Banerjee. Arjun’s playing also incorporates musical elements drawn from his long apprenticeship with his father, Roop Verma (internationally performing sitarist and a disciple of Ali Akbar Khan and Ravi Shankar). The combination of these influences results in a style encompassing the deeply contemplative as well as the exhilarating elements of Indian Music.
Arjun began performing at the age of seven, and has played concerts in the United States, Europe, and India, including performances with Alam Khan, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, Fareed Haque, Pandit Sharda Sahai, Ustad Shabbir Nisar, Kai Eckhardt, Krishna Das, Maya Kherani, Salar Nader, Nilan Chaudhuri, Indranil Mallick, Anirban Roy Chowdhury, Sean Panikkar, Andriana Chuchman, and the St. Louis Symphony.
Arjun has continued his training under the able guidance of Ali Akbar Khan’s son, Alam Khan. Arjun has also received guidance from Smt. Annapurna Devi.
In addition to performing, Arjun teaches sitar and North Indian Classical Music at the Ali Akbar College of Music, the East-West School of Music, and the California Jazz Conservatory.
He will be accompanied by tabla player Nilan Chaudhuri. Nilan Chaudhuri has spent his life immersed in the tradition of Indian classical percussion. Initiated into Tabla at the age of five by his father, Swapan Chaudhuri, Nilan has performed as a Tabla soloist and accompanist for nearly twenty years. He’s shared the stage with some of Hindustani Classical Music’s greatest treasures, like maestros Alam Khan, Shujaat Khan, Ramesh Misra, and Amjad Ali Khansaib at venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Fillmore, Fox Theater, and San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center. In addition to maintaining a busy performing schedule, Nilan teaches Tabla throughout the Bay Area as a faculty member at the Ali Akbar College of Music, in San Rafael, and as the Director of percussion at Chitresh Das Institute in San Mateo.
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