Sandeep Das

Indian tabla player and composer, born in 1971. Sandeep Das is a leading disciple of tabla maestro Pandit Kishan Maharaj ji of the Benaras Gharana. He has composed for and performed internationally with the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma since the group’s founding in 2000. In India and abroad, he performs frequently with Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Dr. L Subramaniam and Ustad Shujaat Khan, and many others. 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. Sandeep Das was educated at Banaras Hindu University and is a Gold Medalist in English Literature. He began playing tabla at the age of eight; at the age of sixteen he performed with Ravi Shankar. He was three times the All-India drumming champion and was the youngest drummer ever to be graded by All-India radio.