Chinmaya Dunster was born in Kent, England in 1954. After attending Art College, he travelled through Afghanistan to India. There he heard a performance by the world-famous sarodist Amjad Ali Khan and instantly fell in love with the sarod (a nineteen-stringed, banjo-like Indian classical instrument.)
Three years later, 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.
Since 1990 Chinmaya has released 13 CDs on New Earth Records and Malimba Records. In 2002 Sir Paul McCartney invited him to perform at his wedding in Ireland.
Chinmaya is currently working on a new CD for New Earth Records from his home in Goa, India, based mainly on the sarod. It promises to become a meditative musical journey into the experience of living in harmony with nature.
Latest News
For my latest video ‘Smiles from the Forest’ which shows Paniya tribals of Wayanad and Nilambur (Kerala) playing, singing and smiling, I have created a new piece of guitar music as a background to their wonderful faces. See the video here...
I filmed a Himalayan Black Bear last summer while trekking on the southern flanks of Nanda Devi in the Kumaon Himalaya. Luckily for me he was on the other side of the river! Watch "Himalayan Black Bear"...
My film ‘Concert for India’s Environment was shown at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona on 8th October 2008.
Concert for India’s Environment
A free awareness raising film directed by Chinmaya. This one hour documentary blends footage from a series of multimedia concerts given by Chinmaya Dunster and his Celtic Ragas Band at the Bharati at the Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environmental Education and Awareness (BVIEER), Pune, India in 2004 with:
- · Poems on nature, composed and read by Indian schoolchildren
- · Interviews with environmentalists and educators
- · Stunning footage of scenery, wildlife and peoples from all over India
