Silk Road Ensemble Artists

Sandeep Das
tabla/composer (b. 1971, India)

"While Indian classical music has a lot to do with improvisation, there are
certain rules you must follow. The music we make with the Silk Road Project
has no constraints. We are not paying attention to the rules and it gives me
an opportunity to express myself in very different ways. Of course I love it
and that's why I'm doing it."

Sandeep Das is considered one of the leading tabla players today. One of the favorite disciples of the legendary tabla maestro Pandit Kishan Maharaj, Das has now carved out a niche for himself throughout the musical world.

Since the 2000-20001 season he has performed with the Silk Road Ensemble  and Yo-Yo Ma in concerts and workshops worldwide. His concert tours have taken him to major centers of music on all continents including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Royce Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, The Concertgebouw, Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and the Petronas Tower Hall in Malaysia to name a few. His discography comprises some 20 collaborative discs on labels including Virgin, Sony and Makar Records. In 2005 his recording with Ghazal, including Kayhan Kalhor and Shujaat Khan, was nominated for a Grammy Award. Das’s 2006 Interview on the BBC’s “Destination Music” is still widely broadcast in Europe today.

In India and abroad he frequently performs with stars of Indian music such as Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia,Dr.L Subramaniam and Ustad Shujaat Khan, among many others. Das’s talent for music and communication has allowed him to bridge the divide between Indian and Western classical music. In 1991, on his first trip outside India, Das performed with steel drum bands in Trinidad. In 2001 he performed a work composed by Kayhan Kalhor with the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Kurt Masur. His own compositions have combined the two genres and have received rave reviews. The most recent composition, Shristi, received its world premiere at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall in September 2006.

Sandeep Das was educated at Banaras Hindu University and is a Gold Medalist in English Literature. He started to play tabla at the age of eight; a year later American folk singer Bill Crofut heard Das in India and performed with him there. At the age of sixteen he performed with Ravi Shankar and subsequently with all the stars of Indian music. He was three times the All-India drumming champion and was the youngest drummer ever to be graded by All-India radio. He performed for Queen Elizabeth on her visit to India and in 2004 was awarded the ‘Most Valuable Young Musician’ award by the President of India.

Sandeep Das appears on all three of the Silk Road Ensemble’s albums released by Sony Classical: When Strangers Meet, Beyond the Horizon and New Impossibilities.