Roshni Thompson + Eric Fraser

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

Roshni Thompson (tabla) is a New York”“based tabla player who hails from the West Indies, where she was initiated into the ancient tradition of Indian classical music by her vocalist father. She has continued her tutelage in the Benares style of tabla playing under Shri Tapan Modak and is currently a student of the epic Farukhbad exponent, Pt. Anindo Chatterjee. While her passion is Indian classical tabla, she has played folk, jazz, and other genres. Thompson has performed at notable local venues such as Pianos, The Knitting Factory, The Bitter End, The Shrine, and Tea Lounge.

Eric Fraser is an accomplished bansuri flute player based in Brooklyn, New York and Kolkata, India, where he learns from his guru, Pandit Gopal Roy. He is an exponent of a vocal style of North-Indian flute playing, and has performed to mesmerized audiences in America and India, including radio performances on NPR’s Morning Edition and WKCR New York. He has performed with renowned maestros of Indian music including Pandit Krishna Bhatt, Pandit Ramesh Mishra, Steve Gorn, and A.R Rahman.

Fraser is a 2011 Fulbright senior research scholar for Indian music, and has a diverse background playing for Indian classical dance as well as jazz, world, and indie music projects. Aside from playing Indian classical flute, Fraseris a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and a music therapist (MA, MT-BC).

Both musicians are members of the Brooklyn Raga Massive music collective.