Doyal Gauranga + Anuj Sharma + Prema Burnside

Spiral Music presents acoustic music every Wednesday evening at the base of the museum’s spiral staircase. Artists who specialize in music from the Himalayas and South Asia are invited to forge a connection between their music and the art in the galleries.

About the Musicians

David Bartolone has been practicing bhakti yoga for fourteen years and was a monk for nearly ten of them, living in ashrams on both the west and east coasts. In 2006 he took formal initiation from his spiritual teacher, Radhanath Swami, and was given the name Doyal Gauranga Das. In 2013 Doyal shifted out of his monastic life and is now married and lives with his wife in Brooklyn. He currently serves as the Director of Programs at the Bhakti Center and performs Kirtan there regularly. He has always had a passion for music, playing a variety of instruments since he was ten years old.

Anuj Sharma’s musical roots are in East Indian drumming. Growing up in the bhakti yoga tradition, Anuj began playing the mridanga, a double-sided clay drum from West Bengal, at an early age. Anuj taps into a creative and curious flow of rhythm on the drum, drawing inspiration from a blend of Eastern and Western musical genres, such as reggae, hip-hop, qawwal, and various elements of Hindustani classical music.

Prema Burnside was born into the bhakti tradition and began learning traditional Indian music at age eleven. She has studied under the beloved kirtaniya Bada Haridas as well as the renowned professional mridanga master Bhima-Karma Saragrahi.