Stanford Live’s Summer@Live Concert series, formerly known as the Stanford Live Arts Festival, returns to Frost Amphitheater July 10-19. The annual concert series highlights the Bay Area’s vibrant mix of cultures and showcases a wide range of musical styles.

“Our July series invites Bay Area communities to connect through music and art,” said Iris Nemani, McMurtry Family Director of Stanford Live. “This year, we highlight the vibrant diasporas of India and Hawaii and welcome back the San Francisco Symphony, a cultural treasure of the Bay Area.”

On Saturday, July 12, TAMASHA: An Extravaganza of Desi Fusion features emerging and established voices from South Asia. Bollywood star Raja Kumari, the Grammy-nominated artist, rapper, and songwriter celebrated for blending Indian classical music with hip-hop, R&B, and electronic influences, is the headliner in an evening of programming, emceed by comedian and musician Abby Govindan, that includes a dance party with the Bay Area’s Duniya Dance & Drum Company and a drag performance from The Masala Mahal featuring Bindi Masala, Chai Auntea, and Shaidy Bee.

TAMASHA was guest-curated by Karishma Bhagani, one of Stanford Live’s 2024-25 season Curatorial Fellows and a PhD candidate in theater and performance studies at Stanford. Bhagani explained that in Hindi tamasha means a grand show, spectacle, or celebration. “This word traveled across the Kala Paani [Indian Ocean] and was adopted by the Swahili Coast to mean festival. Similar to the migration and adoption of phrases across different languages and cultures, this year’s festival foregrounds comedians, musicians, singers, and dancers whose practices are deeply rooted within Indian traditions and have evolved to incorporate practices from Black performance traditions. Some of these include fusing Indian musical and dance practices with rap, hip-hop, voguing, and African rhythms and dance.”

Jake Shimabukuro will perform as part of a Hawaiian music festival on July 19. | Courtesy of the artist

The San Francisco Symphony returns to Frost for its sixth year with two programs. Tchaikovsky Spectacular on July 10 will be conducted by Stephanie Childress with violinist Blake Pouliot. The Movie Music of Hans Zimmer on July 17, conducted by Sarah Hicks, features music from the films The Lion King, Interstellar, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Dune. Closing the series on July 19, the IMUA Hawai‘i Festival: Jake Shimabukuro & Friends celebrates contemporary Hawaiian music.