”India is by far the most exciting and interesting place I've ever taught or lived,” reports guitarist Matt Bacon ’14, who left San Francisco in June to take a job teaching in Chennai. After only three months in India, he was invited to perform as a featured artist at the Indian Guitar Federation’s GuitarFest, an international festival and competition held in Delhi, Calcutta, and other cities this December. He’s also collaborating with a Bollywood/Hollywood film composer on a documentary “comparing and contrasting learning Western music with Carnatic music."

The KM Music Conservatory, where Bacon teaches, offers training in both western classical and Hindustani music. Bacon says it’s a daily adventure to introduce students to music of an entirely different heritage than their own. An award-winning guitarist and former student of guitar department chair David Tanenbaum, Bacon developed his chops as a teacher in SFCM's Conservatory in the Schools program. He also taught in Bay Area schools including Stanford’s pre-college Music Institute. He sums up the main lesson he's learned living in India in five words: “Life is for the bold.”