Indian Music Virtuoso, Ustad Shafaat Kahn, And Fusion Group to Perform At The Parrish Art Museum

World-renowned Indian music virtuoso Ustad Shafaat Kahn and his fusion group East Meets West are coming to the Parrish Art Museum on Friday, December 15 at 6 p.m. A wide range of music combined with Indian classical and folk with Western idioms will be performed. Khan will be showcased on the sitar, table, and vocals. Coco Bastien will be on the guitar and vocals and Farhaj Aziz will be on the keyboard. The trio will perform a little bit of everything, including Western classic, jazz, rock, pop, flamenco, and African rhythms.

Khan’s musical heritage can be traced back to the 16th century to the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. He has released three historic CDs produced by Dr. Deepak Chopra. Khan has shared a television performance with Ray Charles in Germany and recently performed with Stevie Wonder at the Bonaroo Festival. He has played worldwide at concert halls, music festivals, and universities in India, Pakistan, Japan, Russia, China, Malaysia, UK, Germany, France, Italy, and throughout the United States. Khan performed his original work River of Strings with orchestra at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. His talents and love of music has helped raise money for charitable and human rights causes including concerts for world peace, flood victims, disabled children, abused women, and tsunami victims.

“I am thrilled to present Ustad Shafaat Khan in an exclusive concert on the East End,” said Corinne Erni, Curator of Special Projects. “Khan not only comes from a renowned musician family in India but his mastery of fusing classical Indian music with contemporary Western music styles promises to be a most delightful concert experience here at the Parrish.”

Ustad is son of the legendary sitar and surbahar Maestro Ustad Imrat Khan and disciple of the widely respected tabla player Ustad Ibrahim Khan. He is the first known artist to attain simultaneous excellence in performing the sitar, surbahar, and tabla. Ustad’s debut was at eleven-years-old in the King’s Lynn Festival in England inaugurated by the Queen Mother.
  
Tickets are $12 and free for members, children, and students.

Parrish Art Museum is located at 279 Montauk Highway in Water Mill. For more information, call 631-283-2118 or visit parrishart.org.