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Neha Kirpal
“Sandeep transcends his instrument — when he plays the tabla, he is a creator of myths, a master communicator and an orchestra, all in one. In my decades of collaboration around the world, he is easily one of the greatest artists I have ever met. Not only is he one of the best artists I have met but he is also once one of the best teachers I have met. I believe there is no one he cannot engage.” — Yo-Yo Ma
Earlier this month, Sandeep Das’ collaboration with cellist Yo-Yo Ma won the Grammy Award in the ‘World Music’ category. The Silk Road Ensemble’s Sing Me Home features tunes composed and arranged by artistes from across the world. Looking at the ever-changing idea of home, it is a tribute to the ways culture can help encounter, connect and build something new.
Chances are you have never heard of Das. The Bihar-born is not a big name in India. However, the music world sees him as the most promising tabla exponent after Zakir Hussain.
With a professional career spanning 23 years, Das is all of 46 years. He began learning to play the instrument at the age of eight. His compositions exhibit both western and Indian genres of music. A cultural and educational entrepreneur, Sandeep founded Harmony and Universality through Music (HUM) in 2009, an ensemble of world-class artistes whose goal is to promote global understanding through musical performance and education. Through concerts, HUM raises funds for its endeavours to support education in the arts of differently-abled children. HUM also plans to provide health insurance for ageing artists.
Sandeep lives in Boston with his wife Tripti and two daughters, Sakshi and Sonakshi.
Tell us about your early years as a musician.
I credit my father (K N Das) for seeing the potential in me and taking me to my first guru Pandit Sheo Kumar Singh in Patna. Once they both realised that I will go far, my father took me to tabla maestro Pandit Kishan Maharaj at Benaras. I lived and trained with him for 12 years, during which my debut concert was with Pandit Ravi Shankar. I moved to Delhi in 1991 and my initial concerts were with Shubha Mudgal, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Ustad Shujaat Khan. I also started touring abroad the same year.
What were some of the lessons you learnt when you began collaborating with international artistes, specifically the Silk Road Ensemble?
The biggest learning experience was that nothing that I thought was only mine was actually only mine — be it my culture, music or heritage. I realised that it is a shared heritage and nothing grows in isolation. I was able to interact with some of the world’s best musicians from Iran, Azerbaijan, China and the US. And when you work with the best, you get to learn so much.
What do Sing Me Home and the Grammy win mean to you?
The song means that when as human beings we are ready to open our lives, souls and music to one another what comes out is pure love! I wish we human beings could always live in such bliss, happiness and love!
What’s happening at HUM?
HUM runs a scholarship for visually-impaired children whose numbers have grown from two to six now. But our sponsorship from German firm Lanxess is going to end soon. We are worried about the future of these children as they are doing so well and we can’t just let them be. So, the biggest task at hand for us is to find a sponsor who would support their scholarship for at least next five years.
We are also scheduled to perform in Delhi next year where, as always, the children will be presented on the same stage with atleast three to four international superstar musicians and our HUM Ensemble.
What are you looking forward to — as a musician and as an educationist?
I will keep composing and performing as usual. I have some very big concerts coming up in the US, Europe and the Middle East. I have also been asked to give talks at various platforms, including Art Abu Dhabi.
I have masterclasses to teach at various universities here and my own tabla students from various countries, whom I am very proud of!
Discography
Recognition comes his way
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