SANDEEP DAS

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ABOUT

Hailed as a “creator of myths with Houdini-like skills” (The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia), Sandeep Das is one of the leading Indian Tabla virtuosos in the world today. Debuting at the age of 17 with legendary Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, he went on to establish a prolific international career that now spans more than three decades. He has collaborated with top musicians and ensembles from across the globe such as Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, with whom he has performed for the past 21 years, as well as Paquito D’Rivera, Bobby McFerrin, and iconic orchestras like the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, and Chicago Symphony, among others.

A Grammy winning-musician and Guggenheim Fellow, Das’ groundbreaking new music projects sit at the crucible of ancient tradition and modern innovation, enchanting audiences worldwide with “flawless playing” (Songlines Magazine, U.K.) and a “roadmap for irresistible aural adventures” (Downbeat Magazine, USA). His original compositions have been performed in over 50 countries at venues like China’s Forbidden City Concert Hall, Australia’s Sydney Opera House, and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. Transcending Borders One Note at a Time, his most recent project, was launched in 2020 to widespread international acclaim, and seeks to harness the power of music to create positive social change.

Das is an exponent of the Benares Gharana (school) of Tabla, which was established in the 1700s by Pt. Ram Sahai in continuation of an Indian drumming tradition that has been passed down from Guru (teacher) to Shishya (student) for millennia. Starting at the age of 7, Das trained intensely for 12 years in the ancient “Guru-Shishya Parampara” by living with his Guru, the legendary Pt. Kishan Maharaj of Benares, India, and learning and practicing music as a way of life, rather than an isolated art form.

After establishing himself as an artist and receiving the directive from his Guru, Das began teaching disciples in India the same way he had been taught– orally, without the use of books or notations. His teaching activities continued throughout his career, and he formally founded Das Tabla School (DTS) shortly after moving to the US in 2015. Today, DTS maintains an active community of disciples who learn from Das in Boston, MA, in addition to many who call in from across the US and internationally from countries such as India, China, Australia, and Canada. In 2017, DTS held the first “Das Music Camp”, which has since become an annual Indian Classical Music intensive that takes place for several days each year in the Northeastern US, and allows musicians, composers, and dancers of all skill levels and genres to learn from Das and other renowned faculty in a manner very similar to the traditional Guru-Shishya Parampara.

Das’ training and life experiences provide a unique educational opportunity for students and ensembles to learn from, and he frequently gives masterclasses and residencies at schools and universities throughout the world such as Dartmouth, Brandeis, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Clara, College of the Holy Cross, Juilliard School of Music, Berklee College of Music, and UC British Columbia. He has also taught at the annual Arts and Passion Driven Learning Institute at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for the past 8 years, and has been a keynote speaker or invited speaker at other prestigious events such the New York Encounter, the annual E.G. Conference in California, the Abu Dhabi Cultural Summit in the United Arab Emirates, the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art’s Asian Cultural Heritage Month, and the United States Citizenship Naturalization Ceremony at Faneuil Hall, Boston, MA.

Driven by a vision for a brighter future, Das is the founder of Harmony and Universality through Music (HUM), a nonprofit organization in India that has promoted global understanding through music performance and provided learning opportunities and scholarships for visually-impaired children with artistic potential since 2009. He is also an active public speaker, and has presented at The New York Encounter, The EG Conference, TEDx events, and multiple university residencies. In 2015, he established Das Tabla School, where he currently trains musicians from 6+ countries both online and in-person in Boston, MA.