Swapan Chaudhuri

Swapan Chaudhuri is an Indian tabla player.

His parents, through their own passion for music, who initiated his formal musical training and inspired him in the field of tabla, paving the path that would eventually lead him to virtuosity. Swapan Chaudhuri started tabla learning at the age of five. He bases his style on the intensive training he received from his Guru, Pandit Santosh Krishna Biswas of Calcutta, the eminent exponent of the Lucknow Gharana. He holds a master's degree in music and has been conferred honors for his distinguished contributions in the field tabla by the government of India and different musical institutions. He also holds a degree in economics from Jadhavpur University, Calcutta.

Swapan's music is the spontaneous expression of powerful emotions and his deep knowledge of the tabla. His ingenuity has ushered in a purely new style of tabla playing. It is undoubtedly through his clarity and elegance of performance both as an accompanist and as a soloist that he has achieved such fame throughout the world as a true master of tabla. As a soloist and accompanist Swapan has traveled throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia accompanying maestros such as Pandit Habib Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar , Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, the late Nikhil Banerjee, Ustad Amir Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Jasraj, Dr. Balamurli Krishna, and other eminent artists. In addition, he has produced numeric recordings, including his own tabla solo and video tapes, and has appeared extensively on television and radio. Swapan's music reaches beyond the scope of classical music to include performances and recordings with musicians such as L. Shankar, John Handy, and the African drum master, Malenga. He has participated in many international music festivals such as Bath, Perth, Sydney, Tokyo, San Francisco, Kuala Lampur, Stuttgart, and Berlin. He has composed for several percussion ensembles, which have received much appreciation from both western as well as Indian audience.

Swapan Chaudhuri is the director of percussion at the Ali Akbar School of Music in San Rafael, California and in Basle, Switzerland. He is also a member of the teaching staff at the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California.

[http://www.swapanchaudhuri.com/biography.php]