I first began my training in Hindustani music in 1980 when I became a disciple of Pt. Ashok Roy, the renowned sarodiya, himself a long-time disciple of the legendary Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. At that time Ashokji was a visiting artist at Monash University where I was studying ethnomusicology, anthropology, history, and philosophy.

I travelled to Dehra Dun in North India in 1982, where Ashokji lived, and studied intensively with him for 9 months, while undertaking research for an honours degree. A PhD scholarship allowed me to return again for two years (1985 and 1986) to continue this training. In 1987 Ashokji migrated to Melbourne and stayed with us for a further three years with my intensive training continued according to the guru-sishya parampara (traditional training methods).   

From 1996-2001 I was based in Kolkata while I undertook a post-doctoral fellowship. During this time I received kind and generous guidance and instruction from a number of musicians there including Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, Pandit Parthosarathi Choudhury, Pandit Kalyan Mukherjee and many others. 

In 2001 I shifted to Mumbai to study with the senior musician and sitariya, the late Prof. Sachindra Nath Roy (Ashok Roy’s uncle and a senior disciple of Ustad Alauddin Khan and Ustad Enayat Khan – two of the most important figures in 20th century Hindustani music). During that time I also studied classical vocal music intensively in with the well-known vocalist and musicologist the late Dr. Ashok Da. Ranade.

After returning to Australia in 2003, I continued my studies with Ashok ji in Sydney until his passing in 2014. Since 2023 I have been learning from the Kolkata based Ustad Irfan Khan and have the extreme privilege to become acquainted with some of the wonderful repertoire of his famous family heritage.

I am also indebted to the incredibly skilled and generous tabla players, Dr Aneesh Pradhan and Shree Gladwin Charles (ex Delhi All India Radio) who over the years helped to appreciate the rhythmic side to performance and musicality.

Although it’s an old (yet true) cliche that the more you learn, the more you realise how little you know – it is a reality to which I wholeheartedly subscribe.

page updated Dec 2023