Robert Markey

About Robert Markey

ROBERT MARKEY began studying guitar at age seven. As a teenager he studied classical guitar with Allexander Bellow in New York, playing his first performance at age 17. Markey began playing sitar in 1974 under the teaching of Peter Row, also spending time in India studying under Row's teacher, Gokul Nag, who also taught Ravi Shankar. After an extended hiatus from music to focus on visual arts and he returned to the sitar and his musical expression.

My music is based in the North Indian (Hindustani) music tradition. In addition to the traditional ragas, I have studied the music of many of the surrounding cultures. Historically they all influenced each other, as musicians traveled, they taught and learned from each other.

I play a mix of ragas from North and South India and raga-like improvisations from Persia, Japan, Hungary and Indonesia.