Indian Drummer Nishaant Singh in Concert
A rare opportunity to hear a contemporary master player of the pakhawaj, a drum associated with some of India’s most ancient classical music.
Join us for a drum demonstration and concert with master musician Nishaant Singh playing the pakhawaj, an ancient barrel-shaped, two-headed drum, accompanied by sitar player Arjun K. Verma. Rarely heard in performance in the United States, the pakhawaj drum forms the rhythmic backbone of Dhrupad, the oldest known vocal style of Indian classical music. Enjoy a performance by a generational talent while learning about the roots and style of this storied and harmonically rich rhythm instrument.
ABOUT THE PERFORMER
Nishaant Singh, disciple of Pandit Chanchal Kumar Bhattacharya, is a celebrated pakhawaj player and the instrument’s torch bearer for his generation. He belongs to a famous traditional folk musical family in Kalimpong, Darjeeling, with a lineage of music that goes back four generations. Currently, Singh serves as a guest professor of pakhawaj in the Department of Cultural Affairs, VidyaMandira College, in Kolkata, India. He is also a Fulbright Associate in pakhawaj, conducting research under the guidance of Maestro Swapan Chaudhuri at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael.
