James Hamilton

James Hamilton has spent over twenty-five years studying the music of South Asia including fourteen years while living in India. He has acquired an in depth knowledge of traditional Indian music, studying music history, theory, and a variety of musical genres including North and South Indian classical, folk and devotional forms. He studied privately with renowned musicians and musicologists including Radhika Mohan Maitra and Ms Kalyani Roy. In 1979, he completed a Master's Degree in Instrumental Music (sitar) from Rabindra Bharati University in Calcutta. and, in 1986, he completed a PhD in Social Anthropology (Ethnomusicology) from Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland. His doctoral thesis, entitled "Sitar Music in Calcutta", was published by the University of Calgary Press and also in India. James has lectured and performed on the sitar in India, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. He is the leader of the world music ensemble Eastern Star.