sitar / tabla duo

( in two alternative formats : with or without pre-recorded backing layers )


purusa/peter schaefer has studied sitar in india, usa and australia, with krishna chakravarty (disciple of ravi shankar); sarode master the late ali akbar khan; his disciple the late ashok roy, and sitarist dr chandrakant sardeshmukh (disciple of ravi shankar) and composition with peter sculthorpe. his music has been performed, recorded and broadcast in australia and overseas both by his ensemble and such classical performers as the seymour group; petra, gagliano and elektra string quartets; and state symphony orchestras.

he plays a hemen sitar, in performance using various roland signal processing and synthesizer modules to produce a wide timbral range from pure acoustic sitar, to mixing with electronic effects and midi-triggered timbres for extended 'horn' sustain ... this is appropriate to the stylistic range of his performance style, which mirrors a broad experience of eastern and western musics, from traditional north indian to contemporary/jazz/world music styles, and incorporating influences from ravi shankar to john mclaughlin to jan garbarek, among many others.




abhijit dan began playing tabla from the age of five, beginning lessons with shri harihar das of lucknow gharana and then with prachin kala kendra, chandigarrh ... he has also also studied extensively with renowned tabla master swapan choudhury from 1994 ... he was a regular radio and televsion artist in india before relocating to australia several years ago, where he is now a talent of growing renown on the indian music scene for his musicality and rhythmic virtuosity



associate artists :

maharshi raval : tabla
nila hagglund : tabla
iynkaran stephan kantharajah : tabla
chris fields : tabla/percussion
keith manning : tabla/percussion
rob shannon : tabla/percussion



indian/world repertoire examples :

traditional indian ragas

original compositions :
raga gaia / komal re gaia / dreamode / angelclaws / mantra II / mantra III / mantra IV / mantra V





sitar / tabla mp3 excerpt : "raga komal re gaia" (headphone listening recommended)



more audio samples coming soon ...