Originally from Iran, Emam is a percussionist and composer specializing in Middle Eastern and Indian music. He has been performing in the U.S. since 1976. Between 1978 and 1997, Emam visited India on many occasions to study North Indian classical music. His teachers have included the world renowned masters of the tabla Ustad Alla Rakha and Ustad Zakir Hussain. While in India, Emam traveled with and recorded some of India's greatest musicians including Zakir Hussain, Shivkumar Sharma, and Hariprasad Chaurasia. Some of these recordings have been released by Eternal Music, an independent music label founded by Emam and dedicated to World Music and World Fusion Music. Emam was awarded a scholarship for study/research of Indian classical music by the American Institute of Indian Studies. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.