David Parsons

Parsons, an artist from New Zealand, has repeatedly traveled to India since 1975 in order to immerse himself in the culture, examine its musical traditions, and document performances by local musicians. He has also overseen the release of two recordings devoted to traditional Tibetan ritual music performed by the monks of The Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery as part of the Fortuna Records Sacred Ceremonies series. Across multiple acclaimed solo albums, Parsons has channeled the essence of those Asian experiences into richly textured and deeply resonant sound environments.

Trained initially as a jazz-rock drummer, he first encountered Indian music through a recital by sitar master Ravi Shankar more than twenty years earlier. After acquiring a sitar, Parsons spent several years investigating the instrument independently before training under Krishna Chakravarty, one of Shankar’s foremost disciples. Following repeated journeys eastward, he concentrated almost entirely on Indian instruments for his compositions until 1979, when he obtained his first synthesizer. He now maintains one of New Zealand’s largest electronic recording studios, where he produces music for radio, television, and film. His dedication to Western technology alongside Eastern musical practices has yielded a forceful and strikingly inventive compositional voice.