Chinmaya DunsterArtist Bio: Chinmaya was born in Kent, England in 1954. His father was an accomplished artist who made his living renovating old houses and Chinmaya grew up in a rambling sixteenth-century farmhouse set amid the apple orchards, wheatfields, woods and streams. After attending Art College and oddjobbing as a farmhand, Chinmaya took himself off, watercolors and Spanish guitar in hand, on the hippy trail that led through Afghanistan to India. After exploring and painting in the Himalayas, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Japan, an all -night concert in New Delhi in 1979 proved to be a turning point in his life. There he heard a performance by the world-famous sarodist Amjad Ali Khan and instantly fell in love with the sarod (a nineeteen-stringed, banjo-like Indian classical instrument). Three years later, [+] Click to read more while teaching art at a school in London, he became a student of Amjad Ali Khan's leading disciple. Chinmaya dedicated the next thirteen years to the study of Indian classical music on the sarod, both in London and at the Osho Commune in Pune, India. In 1990, with two other commune members, he founded the east-west fusion band Terra Incognita, which released two CDs on New Earth Records. The 1990s saw four further releases from Chinmaya on Nightingale Records: Spiral Dance, a collaboration with the Persian musician Sirus; a solo project Lands of the Dawn; and, after intensive study of Chinese geomancy, the two CDs Music for Feng Shui Parts 1 and 2. His release Celtic Ragas, a blend of Indian and Celtic elements, appeared on New Earth Records in 1998. Natures Way, a collection of Chinmaya's songs sung by Ellika Hansen, was released in Europe in August 2000 on Kreuz Verlag (Germany). Chinmaya then released on New Earth Records "Feng Shui" and "Yoga on Sacred Ground". In 2003 Chinmaya and his Celtic Ragas band were exclusively honored to perform live at Paul McCartney's wedding in Ireland. A Collection of his favorite melodies was released on New Earth Records in 2002 called "Sacred Temples of India" he continued his mix of Celtic and Indian music on the "Karma Circles" CD in 2003. During his stay in India in the winter of 2003/2004 Chinmaya recorded a live concert in Pune, released in 2005 on New Earth Records as "Fragrance of the East". This CD also features video clips from the concert. For FREE download of the full one-hour video "CONCERT FOR INDIA'S ENVIRONMENT', including interviews with environmentalists, poems on nature composed and read by Indian schoolkids and stunning footage of the Indian wilderness, go to www.fragranceoftheeast.org. In 2005 Paul McCartney chose the song "Chance Meeting" from Chinmaya's CD "Celtic Ragas", as the third track on his favorite songs compilation "Glastonbury Grooves", given away free with UNCUT magazine in the UK.2006 saw the release on NER of "Yoga Lounge", a collaboration with Indian sitar maestro Niladri Kumar. Chinmaya Dunster has recently relocated to New Zealand, where he lives outside of Aukland. |
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