Presented by Small World Music and Massey Hall

On Saturday April 8, Small World and Massey Hall present the return to Toronto of a remarkable musical event. Every other year for the past thirty years, Zakir Hussain has served as curator, conductor, and producer for his series, Zakir Hussain’s Masters of Percussion, which brings an exciting blend of Indian music and border-crossing percussion to audiences.

Growing out of his renowned international tabla duet tours with his father, the legendary Ustad Allarakha, Masters of Percussion began as a platform for both popular and rarely heard rhythm traditions from India. While performing and collaborating in India for a few months every year, Zakir has sought and unearthed lesser-known folk and classical traditions which feed into the greater stream of Indian music, affording them greater visibility, as well as introducing them to audiences in the West. Over time, the constantly changing ensemble has expanded to include great drummers and percussionists from many world traditions, including jazz and Latin music.

All of it creates a truly beautiful field from which he can bring Masters of Percussion to the West. The 2023 version will be no exception, presenting audiences with extraordinary, exciting, and spontaneous combinations of percussive as well as melodic performances.

Past years have included master drummers from Central Asia, India, and the U.S., virtuosi like Abbos Kosimov, a master of the Uzbek frame drum known as the doyra, Marcus Gilmore, the most talked about young jazz drummer of our time, Eric Harland of Sangam, and Niladri Kumar, the great young sitarist.

Accompanying Zakir Hussain on stage will be Sabir Khan, Tupac Mantilla, and Navin Sharma.



The 2023 Small World Music Series is generously supported by TD Bank of Canada, the Government of Canada, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council.