Newly Redesigned Website!

Over the past couple of months, I have been working hard to redesign my new website. It has been a number of years since I have really done anything with my website, and it was in real need of an overhaul. The new design is much cleaner, and there is quite a lot of new content. Please enjoy exploring the new site, and let me know what you think!

Cycles - CD release coming soon!

Cycles is the culmination of over ten years of collaborating with Canadian composers, creating a new repertoire for tabla that combines elements of Indian classical and Western classical music. The resulting works draw their inspiration from Western and Indian music in varying degrees, and reflect the personalities and approaches of the individual composers. Cycles features new works for tabla from Canadian composers Paul Frehner, Jim Hiscott, Christien Ledroit, Nicole Lizée, and Bruno Paquet and features guest performances by the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, directed by Brian Current, as well as Marie-Hélène Breault on flute, Catherine Meunier on vibraphone, and Xenia Pestova on harmonium. The CD is being released on the ombu productions label, and will be available on October 14.

The pieces on the CD are:

Elementalities, for flute, vibraphone, and tabla, by Christien Ledroit

Metal Jacket, for tabla and harmonium, by Nicole Lizée

Les arbres célestes, for tabla and pre-recorded tape, by Bruno Paquet

Shadow Play, for flute and tabla, by Jim Hiscott

Ke-Te, for solo tabla, by Paul Frehner

Trade Winds, concerto for tabla with string orchestra, by Christien Ledroit

Producing this CD has been quite a journey for me. It represents ten years of new music for tabla, and the CD project itself took over one year to complete. The chamber music pieces were recorded in September and October 2010, and the tabla concerto with the WSO was recorded in February 2011 by the CBC.

Performing Christien Ledroit's Trade Winds, concerto for tabla, with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra
Photo credit: Scott Webster, Windsor Star

Many thanks to all who collaborated with me on this special project! I will post links to purchase the CD once it becomes available.

Tabla Concerto and What Next?

February has turned out to be a really busy month. First, I spent a few days in Toronto with violinist Parmela Attariwala, to rehearse for our upcoming concerts of the Attar Project.

On Friday, February 4, we performed at Somewhere There, one of Toronto's renowned improv venues. We performed as part of the Leftover Daylight series, curated by talented trumpetist, improviser, and composer Nicole Rampersaud. We opened with Nicole's composition, The Road Ahead, which is also the title track of our CD. Next on the program was Paul Frehner's Oracle, followed by a 30-minute tabla solo in Teentaal. It was an improv venue after-all. :) We concluded the evening with a very different rendition of Nicole's The Road Ahead.

On Sunday, February 6, we closed the Hamilton Philharmonic's What Next? festival of new music at the Pearl Factory in Hamilton, Ontario. Parmela opened with Frank, which is one of her compositions with dance choreography.

I then followed with a short unaccompanied solo in Teentaal, while Parmela did a quick costume change!

The remainer of the program consisted of Nicole Rampersaud's The Road Ahead, Meiro Stamm's The Melody of Rhythm, Paul Frehner's Oracle, Robert Rosen's LA, and Christien Ledroit's Never the Twain Shall Meet.

The following week, I flew to Windsor, Ontario, where I was in residence for the Windsor Canadian Music Festival. On February 9, I participated in a round-table discussion with composer Brent Lee, percussionist/composer Nicholas Papador, conductor/composer Brian Current, and pianist/composer Lee Pui Ming. The discussion began with the music of Claude Vivier and spectral music, followed by a discussion of cross-cultural music. Later that day, I gave a tabla workshop for students at the University of Windsor, hosted by Prof. Nick Papador. The workshop ended with an impromptu tabla solo, with Nick playing lahara on piano!

February 11, was the big day - performing Trade Winds, a concerto for tabla with string orchestra by composer Christien Ledroit. The Windsor Symphony Orchestra was directed by guest conductor Brian Current. The concert was recorded by CBC for future radio broadcast, as well as for my upcoming CD (projected release is for fall 2011). Unfortunately, I don't have any photos from during the performance - only from the bow at the end.

The following day, I performed Jim Hiscott's Shadow Play, for flute and tabla, with talented flautist Jamie Wagner as part of the University of Windsor's faculty concert. This concert was also recorded by CBC for future broadcast.

This was just the first two weeks of February. There is yet more to report, but I will save that for a future blog posting...

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