Phil Scarff

Phil Scarff is a Hindustani classical musician who performs North Indian classical music on the soprano saxophone. Based in Boston, USA, he has toured India annually for nearly 20 years and has been featured in India's top-tier Hindustani festivals, including Tansen Samaroh (Gwalior) with Saskia Rao de Haas, Dover Lane Music Conference (Kolkata) with shehnai artist Vikas Babu, and Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan (Jalandhar) with Priyank Krishna. Other notable Indian appearances include Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture (Kolkata), Prayag Sangeet Samiti (Prayagraj), Banaras Hindu University (Varanasi), and Nehru Centre and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Mumbai). Across North America he has appeared at LearnQuest Festival (Boston), Dhvani (Columbus), Vedic Heritage and Sangeet Mahotsav (New York), ICMDS (Raleigh), University of North Texas, Kalakendra and Portland Balaji Temple, and Edmonton Raga-Mala Music Society. He received extensive Hindustani training in Pune from vocalist Pt. Shreeram Devasthali, sundri artist Pt. Suryakant Khaladkar, and shehnai master Pt. Shyamrao Lonkar, and in Boston from sitar master Peter Row and vocalists Kalpana Mazumdar and Warren Senders. All India Radio has broadcast his Hindustani performance under the auspices of the Sangeet Research Academy. He is also a jazz saxophonist leading the world-jazz ensembles Natraj and the Lewis Porter-Phil Scarff Group, and is featured on over 45 CDs and DVDs. He has presented workshops at institutions including New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, MIT, Tufts University, Kalakshetra Foundation (Chennai), and the Indian Musicological Society (Mumbai).