Born in New York and growing up in Southern California, Girish Varma has been performing and composing music of many genres from classical and jazz to pop, reggae, R&B and country for more than 25 years.  A violinist and guitarist from a young age, he has also studied classical guitar with notable guitarists such as Bob Drake and Matthew Greif, and he has studied composition at UCLA with luminaries such as Ian Krouse and Paul Reale. 

 

Living in Hawaii since 2008, Girish has performed with Uncle Wayne and the Howling Dog band for thousands of Hawaii’s keiki on all of the Hawaiian islands.

 

Besides performing and teaching privately, Girish has also tutored guitar, music theory and ear training for students at Santa Barbara City College.  The father of a former CJMS student who now studies at Berklee College of Music, Girish has been lucky to be able to experience the journey of being both a musician AND the parent of a musician, giving him a unique perspective into the role of parenting a budding musician.  Although he specialises in improvising and advanced classical guitar techniques, his focus on students learning how to enjoy practice and learning to love the sounds they create on their instruments make him a great mentor for beginning to intermediate guitar, violin, mandolin and bass guitar students of all ages.