Name: RootStock Raga Fest
Start: 2025-02-15T16:30:00-08:00
End: 2025-02-15T21:45:00-08:00
Location: Medicine for Nightmares

RootStock Arts is excited to present its first ever Raga Fest. This event builds on the creative momentum generated by the monthly SF Indian Classical Sessions presented and produced with San Francisco’s independent bookstore Medicine for Nightmares. On Saturday Feb 15th we will present three full-length Indian classical sets that draw on the traditions of Raga music as well as many folk melodies that traveled into the region and provided repertoire pre-dating the classical coalescence. The event showcases sitar, vocal, and rubab presented in the artist-run gallery bookstore and community event space, Medicine for Nightmares in the historic Mission District of San Francisco. Come join on Saturday Feb 15th for RootStock Raga Fest.
Program
5pm - Will Marsh (sitar)
6:45 - Rujul Pathak (vocal)
8:30pm - Siddique Ahmed (rubab)
----
Artists on the program:
Will Marsh - Sitar
Nilan Chaudhuri - Tabla
Will Marsh brings refined melody, imagination and devotion to all facets of his music. He performs, composes and teaches on both sitar and guitar.
Will earned his MFA in world music from the California Institute of the Arts where he studied intensively under maestro Aashish Khan (the eldest son of maestro Ali Akbar Khan). He has also studied with sitar masters Roshan Jamal Bhartiya and Tushar Bhatia. Aside from shining on stage as a Hindustani sitarist, Will’s original music blends many styles for a unique sound of his own.
—---
Rujul Pathak - Voice
Narendra Joshi - Harmonium
Amod Dandavate - Tabla
Rujul Pathak is a versatile and talented Hindustani classical vocalist who specializes in khayal gayaki. She belongs to the Agra Atrauli gharana and is a student of Ustad Shaukat Hussain Khan, the son of the late legendary Ustad Sharafat Hussain Khan. Her singing incorporates elements of the essential characteristics of the Agra Atrauli gharana while still maintaining her own unique style. Rujul is also a composer and has performed at prestigious venues in India and abroad, such as the Saptak Annual Music Festival, Harivallabh Festival, Chowdhary House Concerts Kolkata, and many more. She is also a recipient of the prestigious Pt Omkarnath Thakur Award and the Surmani award.
—--
Siddique Ahmed - Afghani Rubab
Edrees Osman - Tabla
Siddique Ahmed, is a multi-instrumentalist, music producer and co-founder of Afghanistan’s first rock band Kabul Dreams based in San Francisco. After moving to the U.S., Siddique reconnected with his cultural roots and began learning the traditional Afghan instrument, the Rubab. Deeply drawn to the Afghan folk and classic melodies he grew up hearing, Siddique now focuses on playing and preserving these tunes on the Rubab. This instrument, which he always felt a connection with, has become a central part of his musical expression.