chris hale

chris hale was raised in nepal and attended woodstock school in mussoorie, india. after music college at berklee in boston he returned to india and formed a band called olio with some indian friends. they performed all over the country in university festivals and independent concerts. while in india, chris studied hindusthani music and earned the visharad degree in sitar. he continues to study the sitar with partho chatterjee, disciple of pandit nikhil banerjee, and surbahar with his teacher shubha sankaran, disciple of ustad imrat khan.

peter hicks

peter hicks was born in delhi but soon thereafter moved to the usa. at the age of fourteen he picked up the guitar and began composing and performing rock songs. drawn by the history of his family in india he returned in 1997 to work with chris and the group olio for six months. years later chris and pete began writing songs together and discovered that they were not only compatible as friends but musically too. in 1999 pete and chris began composing and arranging bhajans using acoustic guitar and sitar. this was the birth of aradhna. peter has begun studying sarode under partho sarothy of calcutta, disciple of pandit ravi shankar. peter's solo projects are available at www.peterhicks.net.

fiona hicks

fiona brings a deep sense of love for the music of south Asia to her violin accompaniment in Aradhna. a member of the group for over 2 years, Fiona's interest in studying the music of south Asia originated at an early age, after living in Bangladesh, India and Nepal as a child until the age of ten. she credits the folk music of Nepal and the vibrant music of Bollywood as being early musical influences, ultimately shaping her desire to pursue music as a career. after moving back to England, Fiona found her musical voice in the violin. she went on to earn an undergraduate degree in Music from the University of Birmingham and a teaching degree from St. Martin's College. in 2003, she began studying north Indian classical music with famed north Indian violinist, Kala Ramnath. fiona continues to remain closely connected to India through her work with Freedom Firm (www.freedomfirm.org), a charity dedicated to rescuing children forced into prostitution in India.

travis mcafee

travis mcafee was born in the usa but spent part of his childhood traveling with his family, around africa, india, and much of south east asia. he began his studies of music shortly after settling in Atlanta in 1990. after several years of piano and saxophone instruction he was introduced to the double bass and electric bass guitar. attracted to its resonant tone and rhythmic role in music he began his study of bass. in 1996 he began working as a studio musician and performing bassist which led the way to his beginnings with chris and pete in 2000. since then travis has contributed on all three of aradhna's albums and has joined them on several tours. travis now lives and works in cincinnati with his wife elizabeth and daughter amaris.