The Mountain Music Project

Tara Linhardt is an award winning mandolin player and songwriter who grew up in the rural mountains of Virginia. Her musical roots are firmly planted in the bluegrass and old time music of that region, but during her undergraduate studies she lived and studied in Nepal. Tara became fluent in the Nepali language and developed a love of Nepali people and culture that eventually led her to form the non-profit called “˜The Mountain Music Project’ with some colleagues with the mission of helping to preserve and promote endangered traditional musics. They made a documentary film and CD exploring the amazing similarities between Appalachian and Nepali Himalayan music and culture. Since the release of this film she has been performing Nepali music as well as bluegrass and jazz and has been performing both in the US and Nepal.

She has joined forces with one of the true pioneers of Nepali traditional music today, Shyam Nepali. Nepali comes from a long line of renown musicians and has continued the family tradition of virtuosic musicianship as well as pushing the boundaries within the traditional idiom. Linhardt and Nepali first teamed up in Nepal to perform together and have continued here in the US, dazzling audiences both with capturing the true essence of the traditional musics of Appalachia and the Nepali Himalaya and their unique abilities to take those traditions and melt and fuse them together to create beautiful and fresh sounds. Of late they added Rajendra Karn to their lineup. He is a highly respected Nepali percussionist who has performed and taught internationally and has mastered the percussive styles of both Nepali and Indian drums. He adds driving rhythms and dynamics that are unmatched.

These three international performing artists may also have some musical guests come and add to the excitement as a few members of the bluegrass music community may come and blend their gifts with this Mountain Music to create a highly memorable and special treat. Don’t miss this night where musicians of the mountains comes together to weave a tapestry of musical delight.