Multi-genre violinist Nistha Raj and progressive hip-hop artist Christylez Bacon, both Strathmore AIR alumni, come together to explore the intersection of beat boxing and Indian classical music, and everywhere in between. Nistha Raj has negotiated the spaces between Indian and Western classical and contemporary music for two decades, studying violin intensively in both the U.S. and India. She has gone on to meld tradition with contemporary innovation through work on collaborative classical, jazz, hip-hop, and rock projects, to name a few.
As a Grammy-nominated multi-instrumentalist, Christylez Bacon is no stranger to cross-cultural collaboration, bringing his musical experiences rooted in Southeast DC to creative partnerships with artists from India, Egypt, Brazil, and more. With a mission toward cultural acceptance and unity through music, Christylez has showcased his projects at a number of DC venues and events, including his own Washington Sound Museum events, along with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and the Kennedy Center.