Meet the distinguished musicians who will perform:

* * * Paul Livingstone starts off the evening with a bass solo.

International performing artist and activist Paul Livingstone spent a highly formative teenage year initiating his study of music in India, eventually becoming one of the few American disciples of the legendary Pt. Ravi Shankar. He has performed around the US, South Asia, Europe, and Latin America, developing a reputation as a serious proponent of Indian classical raga music. In 2022 Paul completed a 6-month research fellowship researching dhrupad, one of the planet’s oldest living music traditions and performed widely around India.

As a composer, Paul brings a grounded knowledge of tradition to his work. He has composed and recorded for film and television, as well as for numerous live theater and dance productions. He has performed on three Grammy-winning records and is featured on diverse world music and jazz crossover records with artists such as the late Juan Gabriel, Alanis Morrisette, Ricky Kej, Ozomatli, Josef Leimberg, Build an Ark, Tyler Childers and Chrissie Hynde.

Paul leads the Arohi Ensemble and performs regularly as a classical sitarist and world/jazz crossover upright bassist. He is on the music faculty at Glendale Community College as a teacher of Indian and world music ensembles. 

* * * The program continues with dhrupad vocals by Sumeet Anand accompanied by Amol Ghode on pakhawaj.

Sumeet Anand Pandey (stage name) is a hereditary musician of the illustrious Darbhanga lineage of vocalists from Bihar in India known particularly for Dhrupad. This is the extant form of Hindustani classical music formalised towards the latter half of the medieval period. Grandson of Padmashri Pandit Siyaram Tiwari and disciple of Pandit Abhay Narayan Mallick (grandnephew and master disciple of Padmashri Pandit Ram Chatur Mallick), Sumeet is professionally active in this field as a performer and teacher for over a decade.