University of California, Santa Cruz is welcoming back world renowned sitar player Nishat Khan to play on campus; he previously performed there in 2015. He will be performing with Nitin Mitta, an internationally recognized tabla player. Both musicians are cornerstones of Indian classical music, who have brought their talents all over the world.
The performance is funded by the Kamil and Talat Hasan Endowed Chair for Classic Indian Music, Dard Neuman, and by the Ali Akbar Khan Endowment for Classical Music. It is also co-sponsored by the UC Santa Cruz Center for South Asian Studies. UC Santa Cruz puts a heavy emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion, and is happy to welcome performers and audiences from diverse backgrounds to be present and included on campus.
Ustad Nishat Khan
Khan is part of one of the most highly regarded musical families in India. The Khan family has been contributing to classical Indian music professionally for seven generations. Nishat started learning to play at the age of three and made his first public debut at seven. He went international by age 17 playing at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.
Nishat draws on his own musical heritage in the North Indian classical idiom and engages in other genres including jazz, Flamenco and Gregorian chant. He has worked with other major performers and composers such as John McLaughlin, Philip Glass, Paco Peña and Evelyn Glennie among many others.
Nishat stands at the threshold of the future of sitar and Indian music with his uniquely invigorating and contemporary approach. He is one of India’s finest musicians and a virtuoso sitar player, transcending musical barriers with his provocative expression and spellbinding technical mastery.
Nitin Mitta
Nitin is one of the most sought-after tabla players of his generation. He has performed with many of the top notch Indian Classical Musicians worldwide. He has also collaborated with Grammy-nominated pianist Vijay Iyer and Carnatic electric guitarist R. Prasanna to produce their album titled Tirtha.
Nitin’s gurus, Pandit G.Satyanarayana and Pandit Arvind Mulgaonkar, were disciples of Ustad Amir Hussain Khan, Nishat Khan’s father. Nitin has been mentoring many young tabla enthusiasts and also teaches Tabla at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Nitin has performed at the Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, at Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
More Information:
February 17, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.
Music Center Recital Hall at UC Santa Cruz
Tickets available on Eventbrite
More Information Available Here
