From Benares, the ancient spiritual center of traditional music and Hindu culture, sitar masters Pandit Shivnath Mishra and his son Deobrat bring to the Orcas Odd Fellows Hall on Sunday, June 21 a concert of classical North Indian raga and folk music.

Joining them on the 2009 USA tour is international performer, tabla teacher and master Mahapunya Das.

Pandit Shivnath was born into a musical family in 1943. He began studying vocal music with his father and uncle when he was five years old. At the age of eight, he switched to sitar. Pandit Shivnath plays in a rare singing style characterized by its strong emphasis on ornamentation and deep emotion called “Thumri.”

In 1966, he received a gold medal in the All India Music Conference in Calcutta. He performed internationally starting in 1979.

Deobrat, considered one of India’s most talented young artists, has been touring with his father since 1994. He performed his first concert at the age of six, played on All- India Radio at the age of 11 and in 1995 was named the best young sitarist in India by the All-India Youth Festival. Das is called one of the best tabla players residing in North America. The sitarists have played together on stages in India, Europe, Canada and the US for more than 15 years. They have toured North America every summer since 1999.

Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. concert are $16 in advance from www.brownpapertickets.com and $20 at the door. Proceeds from the concert are used to support the Mishra’s Indian Classical Music Schools in Indian and British Columbia.