Stephan Mikes
sitarist / multi-instrumentalist / composer
Nada Yoga and Roots of Conscious Music
Stephan Mikes's musical talents became apparent at a an early age. At age 7 he began his musical training with Maestro Carmelo of Italy and gave his first public performance at age 9. Discovering the guitar when he was 11, Stephan was playing professionally and teaching that instrument by the time he was 16. Around this time, Stephan first heard George Harrison's experimental Sitar work with the Beatles, and then Ravi Shankar's performances at Woodstock and elsewhere, and he discovered there was a new musical universe to be explored. Stephan knew he had to play the sitar, and after working a number of years as a producer and arranger for hire, he had his chance. Stephan was taken on as an apprentice to one of the greatest Sitar masters in the world, and he trained for an initial period of 10 years.
Stephan arrived in South Beach in 1992, taking the island by storm,and was soon playing five nights a week hitting every major venue in town. This period inspired the first of his sitar jazz fusion albums, combining the exotic Eastern sound of his Sitar with the sultry melange of Afro-Cuban, Reggae, Haitian, and Latin Jazz he discovered in South Beach.
After his second album was released in 1995, Stephan was picked up by world music label Putumayo Records, and has gone on to have his music released in over 100 countries, with unit sales in six figures. He has performed in concert halls like the Wang Center in Boston and The Kravis Center in Palm Beach on the East coast and the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco on the West coast, and has been featured at hundreds of music and arts festivals across the US. Stephan has been invited to accompany onstage Classical Master Ravi Shankar and pop icons like Donovan and Cheap Trick, and in the world of Latin Music, the sound of Stephan's sitar has been used on recordings by Carlos Ponce and Emilio Estefan.
Locally, Stephan has been twice honored by the Miami New Times, as Best Acoustic Performer and Best Solo Performer. Ft Lauderdale's XS Magazine named him Best New Age Musician. WLRN Television filmed
a full length feature on Stephan's music, and he has performed live on WLRN radio many times, and at other NPR affiliates around the country.
To this date, Stephan has released over 10 recordings of different styles, some his modern sitar world jazz, some classical sitar music and also music for massage and meditation. Current works in progress include an album of Sitar Electronica, an album of sitar fused with traditional Latin forms, and more music for massage and meditation.
Media Quotes- "The sitar is back and one of it's new contemporary masters is Stephan Mikés." -
The Palm Beach Post
" A master at blending cool Indian-inspired ragas with upbeat instrumental world jazz."
20th Century Guitar Magazine
"Plenty of unplugged soloists fill rooms with auditory
delights. Xela Said, for example, can hunch over a guitar
and turn your world black as your heart quivers.
But this acoustician stands
(actually he sits, in the lotus position, while playing)
a world apart from the standard electricity free dude or
chick. After decades of study,training, practice, and
performance, Stephan Mikés Plays sitar at the master
level, placing a karmic chapter in the book of cosmic music.
Barefoot and ponytailed, gentle but worldly, taught by
the best on the planet, Mikés first enters another realm
with his giant, stringed gourd-stick instrument
across his lap. Then he begins to play tunes from one of his
CDs and takes the listener to outer space and beyond.
Musical Valium one moment, fire ants in your eyes another,
his is both tranquil and stirring music, complex yet
smoothly engaging.
Playing sitar is extremely challenging. Playing one a well
as he does is as rare as a rabbi in the Himalaya mountains"
-- New Times Miami for "Best Acoustic
Performer"
"Stephan Mikés has long been the
foremost Sitarist in South Florida
and one of the most respected in the US."
Peter Lavezzoli, author - "Bhiarav, the
Dawn of Indian Music in the West,"
ethnomusicologist, and drummer for
Crazy Fingers and The Teri Catlin Band
