Lecture Demonstration on Making and Playing the North Indian Bamboo Flute with Jeff Whittier

Jeff Whittier will present a lecture-demonstration on the music of the bansuri bamboo flute in the classical music of India, and the craft of flutemaking.

JEFF WHITTIER began his formal study of North Indian classical flute in 1971 at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California with G.S. Sachdev.  He is an exponent of the Indian classical tradition called “Gayaki Ang” or the style of playing based on Hindustani vocal music.    He was formerly the bansuri instructor at Shruthi Swara Laya, a school of Indian music in Fremont, California.  As well as being a performer and teacher of the bansuri, or bamboo flute, he is also a master craftsman of the instrument.   In a 50-year career of flute-making he has provided flutes to some of the most famous musicians of India, including Pt. Vijay Raghav Rao, G. S. Sachdev and Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia. His flutes are also used in orchestras of the Broadway shows “Tarzan,” “The Flower Drum Song,” “Miss Saigon,”  “The King and I,” “Bombay Dreams,” “The Book of Mormon,” “Amazing Grace,” “Allegiance,” “When You Wish,” and “Aida.”  For the Broadway production of “The Lion King,” Disney gave Jeff Whittier a credit for his flutes in the playbill.

Accompanying him will be Leslie Schneider on the tabla.  She has studied Indian classical vocal music and tabla for many years.