Study Abroad Prepared J.J. Gregg ’02 for Professional Sitar and Teaching Career

From hearing the sitar live for the first time in Packard Hall as first year student, to performing with the instrument in Packard Hall just four years later, J.J. Gregg ’02 credits his dream career to his time at CC, where he was inspired, mentored, and supported in his passion for South Asia and its classical stringed instrument.

Gregg grew up taking piano lessons, performing in a choir, and playing the French horn. As a middle schooler, he listened to The Beatles albums Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s, which gave him some familiarity with the sound of a sitar. But it wasn’t until his first month at CC when he really became inspired. In September 1998, just a few weeks after arriving on campus, there was a concert in Packard Hall of sarod, sitar, and tabla. This was the first time Gregg saw or heard any of these instruments live.

“I sat in the third row, just mesmerized by the tabla,” he says. “This, coupled with having several South Asian American friends in high school, pointed me towards studying abroad in India. I also really wanted to live somewhere non-Western.”

Gregg was already involved with the Colorado College South Asian Student Association (SASA) and the CC Music Department. His passion for sitar music and South Asia only increased after attending this performance.

At the time, the Associated Colleges of the Midwest’s India Studies Program had a ten-week orientation and language-study program at Carleton College, which students took before heading to India to study for six months. Gregg was immediately interested and enrolled in the program.

“At Carleton, they had a sitar teacher, David Whetstone,” he says. “Since Carleton had no tabla teacher, I decided I should learn something about South Asian classical music before I went. While he did a great job taking us to many concerts in Minneapolis, I still didn’t know if I wanted to study either the sitar or tabla.”

After arriving in India, Gregg learned that the host family of one of his friends had a connection to Ustad Usman Khan, a well-known sitar performer and teacher. His classmate had him listen to a tape of Khan’s music, and Gregg immediately loved it. Gregg and his classmate had the opportunity to meet Khan the following week, and he advised them to start over with just exercises before they played music on the sitar. The students listened and took lessons twice a week for five months.

As Gregg was studying abroad in 2000, he primarily communicated with friends and family via snail mail, as the power went out at the internet cafes frequently.

“While we had the occasional international phone call, no one had cell phones at the time,” he says. “I learned to read, write, and speak Marathi which allowed me to navigate Maharashtra as well as serving to deepen my studies of the sitar over many years. My sitar guru teaches in Marathi, Hindi, and English, so knowing two of those languages helped me absorb more knowledge.”

This was an intense, but incredibly valuable experience for Gregg, who has since spent nearly three years in India over eight trips, primarily learning the sitar. After returning to campus from India, Gregg was totally hooked on the sitar.

Gregg had co-chaired SASA with his friend Muliha Khan ’02 before going to India, and upon returning to campus, Gregg and Alejandro Negrete ’02, playing sitar and tabla respectively, performed for a SASA event in Packard Hall in Spring 2002. He continued to be significantly involved with SASA and performed on campus several times before graduating.

Right before graduating with a degree in Mathematical Economics, Gregg was hired as a paraprofessional in the Economics Department. “Job secured, I could head back to India on a shoestring budget to learn to cook and learn more sitar,” he says.

However, just before he left, his trip was still up in the air.

“The State Department issued a travel warning for India, advising all U.S. nationals to leave because of a heightened danger of nuclear war with Pakistan,” Gregg says. “I called the program director of my study abroad. They canceled the 2002 program. I called my host father: Pune could be a military target. Finally, I called my sitar guru. He said, ‘Come!,’ so, I went.”

“I reasoned that a billion people couldn’t go anywhere so I would join them,” he says. “With no other foreign students to teach, my guru had ample time to impart so much knowledge to me with lessons several times a week, morning and evening. While totally unprepared for this intensity, I met the challenge, and it strengthened my commitment and love for music.”

Gregg remains in contact with many of his colleagues, professors, and classmates from CC, and he is grateful for the ongoing support he’s received from SASA and other departments on campus. As a student, Gregg took many classes from Director of the Institute of Economic Growth Chetan Ghate ’93, who went to the ACM India Studies Program and was a visiting professor at CC. Gregg visited him in New Delhi the summer after he graduated and continues to appreciate Ghate’s guidance.

“We’ve kept in touch over the years and his friendship and mentorship while at CC and after strongly influenced my long-term teaching and learning trajectory,” Gregg says.

While working as a paraprofessional, Gregg lived in the Music House on campus and recorded rock music with Nathan Readey ’05 and John Willhoitte ’05. After being invited to perform at the SASA Diwali Festival in November 2002, Gregg and Negrete really focused on their performance of Raag Malkauns and practiced four to five times a week to put on a great performance at the festival. After a successful show, they were asked to perform again in Packard Hall in March 2003.

While Gregg was hooked on the sitar after his first trip to India, it was a long road for him to end up playing sitar professionally. It took him about five years to switch from playing rock and experimental music to focusing almost exclusively on sitar and South Asian classical music.

Gregg released two new CDs this year. “The first album, a confluence of Americana guitar and sitar sounds, comes from my collaboration Lunar Prairie. The second album, Ease & Flow, makes six concise statements in the traditional realm of sitar and tabla,” he says.

Gregg and Executive Director of Seattle Tabla Institute Ravi Albright performed a track together off Gregg’s album Ease & Flow, “trading places with dragonflies,” as part of the October 2023 George Harrison Tribute at Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon. Gregg says he and Albright were invited as a nod to Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, and Alla Rakha’s performance at the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971. Gregg also played sitar for The Inner Light and Sarve Shaam for the same concert.

While Gregg’s primary career is performing the sitar, he also enjoys sharing his love of the instrument and music with students. After earning a Master of Education from University of Illinois at Chicago, Gregg focused on elementary and middle school, and English as a Second Language. He knew he wanted to be a teacher after taking Introduction to Geology during the spring semester of his first year at CC with Bill Phillips, a visiting professor.

“Bill inspired me to want to be a teacher,” Gregg says. “After getting my degree, I taught middle school math in Bangkok for two years. Subsequently, I ran an after-school program in rural Ohio for three years, including one year in AmeriCorps. Over this time, my teaching focus slowly moved towards sitar where it continues today.”

While Gregg has been busy over the past few years, from releasing songs to performing, to teaching sitar lessons, he continues to return to his connection with CC by performing and sharing his love of music with fellow alums. One of his favorite venues to perform at is Minto Island Growers (MIG) in Salem, Oregon, where he makes his home. MIG is run by Elizabeth Miller ’04 and Chris Jenkins ’04. He’s performed at their summer music series annually since 2018.

Readers can listen to Gregg’s music here and check out more information on his career on his website.