About

Donya Reeza is a music project devoted to the modal traditions of North India, Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Eastern Mediterranean. Co-founded in 2017 by Alexander Karvelas and Mazyar Karandish, this collective presents expansive repertoires of North Indian, Persian, Turkish, and Greek music, illuminating the unique creative genius of these cultures as well as their commonalities, mutual influence, and shared histories. Building on years of intensive study under master musicians, the musicians of Donya Reeza weave a sonorous tapestry of cross-cultural inspiration with the mission of promoting and celebrating the vitality of these diverse music traditions, their storied legacies and their living communities.

Music

North Indian Classical Music - Maz Karandish studied sitar in the Etowa gharana lineage under Shujat Khan, his disciple Nasir Syed, and Ramprapanna Bhattacharya and other major exponents. Alexander Karvelas studied in the Maihar gharana lineage at the Ali Akbar College of Music and under Joanna Mack, Bruce Hamm, and other exponents. Both Maz and Alexander received initial training in sitar under renowned ethnomusicologist Scott Marcus, who also served on Alexander's dissertation committee for his PhD in ethnomusicology. Both Maz and Alexander has also studied Hindustani vocal technique and repertoire extensively under several different teachers including Shakti Mishra (son of Pasupati Nath Mishra of Banaras), Rik Masterson (major discipline of Pandit Pran Nath of the Kirana gharana), and others. Josh Mellinger is a longtime student of the world renowned tabla maestro Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri.

Please inquire more for our extensive experience with Persian, Turkish, and Greek traditions.

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