Strings Across the Seas

“Indian Music with an English Accent” — Sitar and Jonathan Mayer

In our second episode, we explore London-born Jonathan Mayer’s relationship with Indian classical music, and how he gradually fell in love with the sitar owing to his Indian roots. His journey captures the harmony of Western and the melodies of Indian classical music, and how he traded the violin for this Indian instrument, enriching the way he sees and feels music. Here’s Jonathan, one of the UK’s most prominent sitar players, who has not only composed orchestral symphonies and performed Indo-Jazz music, but has also worked on actor Riz Ahmed's hip-hop project.

“Like a Banjo” — Shamisen and Hibiki Ichikawa

In our first episode, we talked to Hibiki Ichikawa to discover his relationship with the shamisen — a traditional stringed instrument from Japan, and how he ended up staying in London. From composing music for an Academy Award nominated film to performing at the British Museum, and even collaborating with Nike, his journey has been nothing but inspiring. We bring to you, Europe’s only Tsugaru shamisen player, all the way from Japan. To listen to more of Hibiki Ichikawa's music on shamisen, you can check him out on Spotify and Instagram.