Ricky Mathew, Sujay Dighe & Amita Ajmera

Spiral Music presents acoustic music every Wednesday evening at the base of the Museum’s spiral staircase. This week Ricky Mathew, Sujay Dighe, and Amita Ajmera are invited to forge a connection between their music and the art in the galleries.

About the Musicians

Ricky Mathew (tabla) was trained initially by Kishore Dighe, a well-known tabla player and teacher in the Washington metropolitan area, then followed in the footsteps of his current teacher, Sujay Dighe. Mathew has accompanied artists who play both classical and fusion music and has performed in India and New York. He currently teaches tabla at Chinmaya Mission in Washington, D.C.

Sujay Dighe (tabla) grew up among a family of musicians in Maryland. His first guru was Sundesh Sreenivas, and after three years Dighe began lessons with his father, Shri Kishore Dighe. Under his father and Sreenivas’s guidance, Dighe became a highly respectable tabla player at only 21 years old. Since 2007 he has served as a volunteer teacher at the Chinmaya Mission in Washington, D.C., where he continues to spend his weekends teaching tabla to children of all ages.

Amita Ajmera (sitar) began learning the instrument as a teenager in Amritsar. She continued her training at home throughout her college years and eventually pursued her master’s in Instrumental Music from Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, Punjab. Amita continued her sitar studies after coming to New York, under Guruji Kinnar Seen. Amita presently gives lessons on sitar at the Scarsdale Adult School and at India Center of Westchester in Elmsford, NY.