“24 hours of uninterrupted, absolutely incredible music performances” - The New York Times.

Pioneer Works is excited to present the 13th annual Ragas Live Festival featuring 24 hours of transcendent music in the Pioneer Works Main Hall.

For the 2024 iteration, several of the greatest exponents of their instruments will be joining us from S. Asia including “the world's greatest slide guitarist,” Debashish Bhattacharya; Ganesh Rajagopalan (2024 Grammy Winner & violin maestro from Shakti); Afghan musical superstars, Homayoun Sakhi (Afghan Rubab) and Salar Nader (tabla); the electric mandolin phenom, U. Rajesh; and the dazzling Carnatic ensemble, the Mysore Brothers.

Alongside the classical tradition of raga, the trailblazing modular synthesist and vocalist, Arushi Jain (fka the Modular Princess) will create her signature lush analog and electronic textures inspired by the raga idiom, and US-based Pakistani artist, Slowspin (Zeerak Ahmed), will present her signature blend North Indian classical vocal traditions, dream-folk, ambient and experimental-electronic music.Celebrating the rich tapestry of sounds woven along the Slik Road, concert goers will experience the Iranian Kamancheh master, Mehrnam Rastegari; the Bubul Tarang of the Rajasthani maestro, Bashir Khan; veena of Saraswathi Ranganathan; sarod of Anirban Dasgupta; bansuri of Jay Gandhi, and a a full gamelan orchestra, Gamelan Dharma Swara.

In a special set, Ragas Live Festival will honor the legacy of Badal Roy, who helped introduce the sound of tabla to the jazz world. Working with artists such as Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, John McLaughlin, David Liebman and Pharoah Sanders, Badal brought his deep feel, groove and soul to all the music and people he touched. This set celebrates Badal’s contributions with an all-star band of Badal’s friends and collaborators: Steve Gorn–bansuri, Kenny Wessel–guitar, Alex Marcello–keyboards, Sutomu Takeishi–bass, Mike Sarin-drums, and Subhasis Bhattacharya-tabla.

Additional highlights include a sunrise set from Hindustani vocalist Namami Karmaka;, a rare bansuri and violin jugalbandi from Manas Kumar, S. Akash & Amit Kavthekar; and an evening raga from sitar maestra Seema Gulati.