Tabla Legend Padmashri Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri performing at Shaddha Suman by Talayan Music Circle

Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri is a phenomenon in the arena of Indian Classical Music. Musicians honor him as one of the most respected Tabla players, worthy of highest regard all over the world. Today a two time Grammy nominee, it was Swapanji’s beloved 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. As a soloist and accompanist Swapanji has traveled throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia accompanying Maestros such as Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Vilayat Khan, the late Pandit Nikhil Banerjee, Ustad Amir Khan, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Jasraj, Dr. Balamurali Krishna, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Dr. L. Subramanium, and Pandit V.G. Jog as well as other eminent artists. His concert career has taken him to the most prestigious stages in the world including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and the United Nations. In addition, he has produced numerous recordings, including his own Tabla solos and videotapes, and has appeared extensively on television and radio. Two records, Legacy (1997) and Passing on the Tradition (1998), were nominated for Grammy Awards, on which Swapanji collaborated with Asha Bhosle and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Swapanji’s music reaches beyond the scope of Classical music to include performances and recordings with musicians such as Stevie Wonder, L. Shankar, Mark O’Connor, John Handy, Larry Coryell, John Santos, the reputed Persian musicians Alizade and Kayhan Kalhor, the African drum master, Malonga, and the renowned guitarists, Vlatko Stefanovski and Miroslav Tadic. He has participated in many International Music Festivals such as Bath, Perth, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, San Francisco, Kuala Lampur, Stuttgart and Berlin. His solo and accompaniment concerts as well performances of his compositions for percussion ensembles have received tremendous appreciation from Western and Indian audiences alike. He is associated with various American and European Universities as a visiting professor. Since 1981, Pt. Swapan Chaudhuri has held the position of Director of Percussion at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California and in Basel, Switzerland, where students from all over the world have received intensive training in Tabla. Since 1991, he has been the Director of North Indian Percussion Studies at California Institute of the Arts, in Los Angeles, having also served as the Department Chairperson Emeritus for the World Music Department, where he has taught and mentored hundreds of students who have had prominent careers as professors, performers, and teachers around the world. With his guidance, his students have become Fulbright Scholars, American Institute of Indian Studies Fellows, and professors at M.I.T., California Institute of the Arts, California State University, Sacramento, and other universities, as well as founders of their own schools in Los Angeles, San Jose, Phoenix, and Toronto, Canada. Recently, he has become a trusted advisor and mentor to the faculty, staff, and students of the newly formed Chitresh Das Institute, and serves as Artistic Director of Ashavari Performing Arts, and President of Rupak School of World Percussion. Through all of these activities, his influence and care for spreading his culture extends forward into many generations. Despite his demanding teaching responsibilities, Swapanji maintains a rigorous touring and recording schedule throughout the year. He resides in San Rafael, California with his wife, and sons.