Presented by Small World Music
Supported by TD Bank Canada and Toronto Arts Council

Small World celebrates the album release of Arnab Chakrabarty! This concert marks the digital release of Cat’s Cradle, a solo album by the Indian classical sarod virtuoso, Arnab Chakrabarty. This album, supported by a Toronto Arts Council Music & Recording Grant, consists of six original compositions by Arnab, in six traditional ragas. The concert will open with a solo tabla recital by Arnab’s long-time collaborator Zaheer-Abbas Janmohamed, who will be accompanied by Pankaj Mishra. Following that performance will be Arnab’s sarod recital, with Florida-based tabla master Shankh Lahiri accompanying him. Both Janmohamed and Lahiri have contributed to this album.

The Artists:
One of the front-ranking sarod artists of the current generation, Arnab Chakrabarty (b. 1980) is a consummate performer and teacher of Hindustani (North Indian classical) instrumental music. Well known for his fine articulation of musical phrases, prodigious imagination, and fidelity to canonical raga forms, Chakrabarty is one of very few Hindustani musicians today who embody commitment to protecting and advancing the art form. A student of music for over 35 years, Arnab Chakrabarty has been a professional musician for two decades, appearing at over 850 public concerts in 33 countries. His performances have taken him to almost every important music festival in India and dozens in Europe and the United States, including the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Victoria & Albert Museum (London), Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Silk Road Festival (Damascus) and Trafo House of Contemporary Culture (Budapest).

Shankh Lahiri is a virtuoso tabla player and artistic director of the Shruti School of Music in Tampa, Florida. He studied Indian classical tabla with Maestro Nayan Ghosh, and is himself from a family of professional musicians. Shankh performs with all leading musicians of the genre and beyond. He also tours with his Indo-Cuban band, Wahh!

Abbas Janmohamed is one of the few Canadian born and raised tabla players who have attained a level of proficiency in this art that enables him to accompany leading Indian classical artists such as Ustad Irshad Khan and Arnab Chakrabarty, while also collaborating extensively with musicians across genres. He studies the art of tabla with Prafulla Athalye, senior disciple of the lengendary Ustad Allarakha. A recipient Small World Music's Emergence fellowship in 2020, Abbas strives to preserve the integrity of the classical repertoire he has studied while bringing the sound of tabla to new contexts and audiences in the Canadian music scene.

Pankaj Mishra performs on the sarangi, a bowed instrument, and tours the world accompanying major tabla soloists, vocalists and Kathak dancers from India. He was trained by his uncle, Mahesh Prasad Mishra, a great sarangi master from Varanasi, India.

COVID Policy:
Vaccine QR code will be checked at the door. Masks will be required in hallways and common areas of the building. We thank you for working with us to keep our community as safe as possible!

Presented as a part of 25 for 25 - Small World Music's 25th Anniversary Program