bio: John Heitzenrater is a multi-instrumentalist whose performance career spans over two decades and many genres. The instruments on which he is currently featured are sarod, bassoon and guitars, but he has also appeared performing on tabla, ghatam, electric bass, keyboards, and voice. On sarod, Mr. Heitzenrater is a product of the celebrated Maihar-Allaudin Gharana, which traces its lineage to Mian Tansen, court musician of Akbar the Great and the principle progenitor of modern Hindustani classical music. He studied sarod with Pandit Rajeev Taranath, distinguished disciple of Maestro Ali Akbar Khan and one of the world's leading exponents of the sarod, and studied tabla with Lucknow Gharana Maestro Swapan Chaudhuri. He is also versed in the folk music traditions of Macedonia and Bulgaria (thanks to Miroslav Tadic), in Western classical music, and in various American popular traditions including rock, jazz, and bluegrass. In his diverse performance career, he has shared the stage with an array of talented musicians from around the globe. Recent performances include an appearance at the Dalai Lama's World Festival of Sacred Music with master South Indian drummer Poovalur Srinivasan, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles with chitravina virtuoso N. Ravikiran and master drummers Glen Velez and John Bergamo, and at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood with his cross-cultural acoustic ensembe, Hindugrass. Mr. Heitzenrater earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in Composition and Performance (on sarod, guitar, and bassoon) and his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Multi-Focus Guitar Performance from California Institute of the Arts. He was awarded the Music Teacher's National Association Student Achievement Recognition Award for his work student teaching at CalArts and for his pioneering work with the Santa Clarita Valley Community Arts Partnership. In addition to his performance career, John is currently teaching bassoon, theory and ear-training at North Carolina Central University, managing a large studio of private students, and scoring an independent film. Hindugrass has released their debut self-titled album, "Hindugrass." Look for it on iTunes, at Abstract Logix, and at CDBaby.
With Branavan Ganesan and Chris Johnson at the Forest Theatre, Chapel Hill, NC, 6/22/08:
With Chris Armstrong and Carolyn Balfe at CalArts, 2002:
