Highlights:
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Jonathan Mayer began learning the sitar at 16 after growing up in a musically active household.
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His training combines the Indian guru–shishya tradition with Western conservatoire education.
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Translating ragas into Western notation remains complex due to micro-slides and phrasing.
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Jonathan Mayer works closely with non-South Asian musicians by explaining raga logic, not just notes.
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His work consistently focuses on balancing Indian classical frameworks with Western musical systems.
Jonathan Mayer’s journey with music began long before he picked up the sitar. He grew up surrounded by sound and structure, shaped by a family deeply involved in music. “My father was a composer from Kolkata. My mother was a piano player. My grandfather was a violinist on my mum’s side,” he says. As a child, Mayer learned the violin and piano, while the sitar remained a constant presence through his father’s work.
Despite this exposure, Jonathan Mayer says his relationship with the sitar developed gradually. He started learning the instrument at 16 and describes the process as finding his own voice rather than continuing an inherited path. The sitar became central to his identity once he understood that his work did not have to mirror his father’s compositions, but could instead reflect his own perspective shaped by multiple traditions.
Jonathan Mayer on Dual Training in Indian and Western Music
Today, Jonathan Mayer works as a composer, performer, and director of ZerOclassikal. His practice moves between Indian classical music and Western orchestral structures, often within the same project. This dual approach is grounded in his education. He trained in the guru–shishya tradition, which emphasizes oral transmission, repetition, and long-term trust between teacher and student. At the same time, he studied within the Western conservatoire system, where notation, analysis, and formal structure play a central role.
Jonathan Mayer describes these systems as different approaches to the same goal. Depending on the context, he shifts between them, using memory and instinct in one setting, and written scores and analytical frameworks in another. This flexibility has become a defining feature of his work.
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Translating Ragas: Jonathan Mayer on Western Notation Challenges
One of the most persistent challenges Jonathan Mayer faces is writing Indian ragas using Western notation. He explains that the issue lies not in capturing the melody, but in representing the details that give a raga its character. These include micro-slides, bends, and subtle shifts in phrasing that Western notation was not designed to express.
To address this, Jonathan Mayer often supplements written scores with symbols, verbal instructions, and extended rehearsal periods. His aim is not for musicians to read ragas literally, but to understand their internal movement and logic. This process helps bridge the gap between written form and lived musical experience.
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Jonathan Mayer and Raga Music for Western Instruments
This thinking led to Jonathan Mayer’s project Raga Music for Western Instruments. While working with Western-trained musicians, he noticed that technical skill was rarely the main obstacle. Instead, uncertainty about cultural expectations often limited expression. Many musicians were unsure how much freedom they had within a raga.
Jonathan Mayer explains that once players understand that ragas are structured but not rigid, their confidence grows. The shift happens when they stop focusing on correctness and begin listening closely to phrasing and flow. At that point, the music starts to take shape more naturally.
Tradition, Instinct, and Composition in Jonathan Mayer’s Work
In his own compositions, Jonathan Mayer frequently returns to traditional material. One example is Perseverance, based on raga tilak kamod. While discussing the piece, he describes how a change in taal led to an unexpected development. The composition expanded through instinct rather than strict planning.
For Jonathan Mayer, these moments highlight how tradition functions as a living process. He views Indian classical music not as a fixed archive, but as a space that evolves when approached with understanding and respect.
Jonathan Mayer on Writing for Orchestra
When composing for orchestra, Jonathan Mayer pays close attention to balance and dynamics. He explains, “There’s a way of basically, you play something on the sitar and you have orchestral backing… But the true terminology of concerto is almost a battle between the soloist and the orchestra. I know how the sitar sounds, I know how the instruments of the orchestra sound, so I can adjust the balance in dynamics. But the sitar is a very quiet instrument, so you always need to amplify it.”
This awareness informs how he structures orchestral works, ensuring that the sitar remains present without being overwhelmed.
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Jonathan Mayer, Tala++, and Rhythmic Dialogue
His project Tala++, featuring piano and two tablas, allowed Jonathan Mayer to explore how Western harmony can interact with Indian rhythmic systems. Rather than layering one style over the other, he focused on finding a balance where both could coexist without dominance. He describes this as an organic process rather than a decorative one.
ZerOclassikal: Jonathan Mayer on Collaboration and Respect
ZerOclassikal reflects Jonathan Mayer’s collaborative philosophy. The platform brings together musicians from diverse backgrounds, with an emphasis on informed exchange rather than surface-level fusion. When working with musicians unfamiliar with South Asian traditions, he provides structure while encouraging exploration. He explains, “I’ll give them the notes, and I’ll give them a few Buck cards… try and miss out SA, miss out PA on the way up… follow me.”
The focus, he says, is on understanding the logic of the raga rather than memorizing sequences.
Jonathan Mayer on Pushing Boundaries While Preserving Essence
Jonathan Mayer sees boundary-pushing as essential to the future of British South Asian classical music. He challenges assumptions around purity, format, and participation. Speaking about his label and studio, he says, “We want to give musicians the freedom to come in and experiment… to play with the boundaries without breaking the essence of the raga… It’s about giving space for ideas to grow while respecting the tradition.”
Jonathan Mayer and Cross-Cultural Composition
Looking forward, Jonathan Mayer plans to focus more on writing for smaller ensembles. He says, “I’ve done quite a bit of orchestral writing, so I want to start writing with smaller ensembles and introducing South Asian instruments within that ensemble, and make it… organic.” His future projects include compositions for brass quintet with tabla and wind quintet with bansuri. He also wants to step back from performing and focus on writing for other South Asian musicians in global contexts.
