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 Growing
up in South Africa, I often had the opportunity to be in
environments where music played an important role and where it
was often the predominant medium for transforming people.
My most memorable moments were Greek weddings and
gatherings with family and relatives.
It was not uncommon for me to see rather old shopkeepers
doing complete backbends and other rather strenuous and extreme
physical movements with a little help from ouzo and lots of help
from the live Bouzouki bands.
Together with this was the warm and familial experience
at the local Greek church where I experienced
Byzantine chant together with the visuals of the priests
and icons and incense. All
of these elements were used as an aide to a deep spiritual
awareness. To this
day, the sounds of Byzantine chant trigger off many positive and
spiritual feelings deep within me.
In many ways, I believe that my early exposure to
Byzantine chant is what ultimately led me to North Indian
Classical music (both of which are monotonic systems of music).
Parallel to this
were the culturally opposite experiences
of watching African drummers and dancers spontaneously
express themselves uninhibited with group participation as a key
element. One as a
tool for self transcendence, the other, a unifying and uplifting
force in the light of the incredible oppression and suffering
the Africans were experiencing at the time.
African music to me always brings a great feeling of joy
and celebration. Finally,
I left South Africa, mainly due to the incredible injustice that
was taking place at the time.
I arrived in Greece where I spent some time exploring my
roots, taking every opportunity to listen to live traditional
music. The unique way of the Greek clarinet and the sounds of the
Cretan lyre were my most profound musical experiences. Of course, I had fallen in love with Greece and traveling.
Two years later, I headed East to India and after many unusual
coincidences, met my main sitar teacher.
I felt that I had finally arrived home.
Not just physically but musically and spiritually.
For so many
years, I had been developing ideas about music, self expression,
improvisation etc. What
I found in Classical Indian Music was the culmination and
fruition of all these ideas. This musical system is
not only spiritual in nature, but is a complete musical system
where through rigorous training, one acquires the necessary
skills to go deep into one’s creativity, touching on very deep
elements of our human nature.
It not only leads the musician and listeners into deep
states of contemplation, but has the ability to touch on the
most refined elements of sound and aesthetics.
Over the course
of 23 years, I have continued my sitar studies mainly with
Professor Virendra Kumar Sen, retired professor of DAV College,
Dehra Dun and the late Gopal Shankar Mishra of BHU and Rabindran
Narayan Goswami of Benaras. Also, I have had the opportunity to study tabla with Pyari
Lal Mishra and Pakhawaj with Shri Kant Mishra, both of BHU,
Banaras. Meeting my wife, Jan in Banaras in 1989 where we were
married, has been a boon for both of us as she is trained in
both Western Classical music (piano) and Indian classical music
(vocal). Presently,
we live in the USA with our two children:
our princess Helena 14 who studies violin (western
classical and jazz) and also Kathak (North Indian dance) and our
8 year-old son, Yiorgo who just wants to rock and roll.
In the USA, I teach World Music at York College, PA.
I also teach sitar, tabla and yoga privately.
My wife is a doctoral candidate in Ethnomusicology with
her main focus North Indian devotional music.
We regularly perform and give lecture demonstrations at
local colleges and have recently released our first CD:
Bija: Seeds
of Prayer. Ultimately,
music is a blessing that comes through us and not from us.
I feel classical Indian music when seriously listened to
has the ability to give us a glimpse of that which we are all
seeking in so many millions of ways:
a gentle taste of the Beloved.
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