WALTHAM, MA– Grammy winner Tabla Maestro Sandeep Das will receive New England Choice Awards in the category of Artist of the Year 2017 on Oct. 27 at Westin Hotel in Waltham, MA.
Earlier this year, Mr. Das’s collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble “Sing Me Home” won the Grammy in the Best World Music Album category. Das, who had been nominated for Grammy twice before, has played tabla with the likes of the late Pandit Ravi Shankar, and has been associated with legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble since 2000.
Sandeep Das of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble (Photo: Sandeep Das website)
Having first learned tabla playing in Patna, India, at an early age and later being in the tutelage of Pandit Kishan Maharaj from Benares, Mr. Das has now left a mark on the Indian classical music scene, and more importantly in the area of collaboration between Indian and Western music genres.
He will be awarded Artist of the Year Award at New England Choice Awards on Friday, Oct. 27, at Westin Hotel in Waltham.
In addition to Mr. Das, eight Indian-American achievers and two non-profit organization will receive New England Choice Awards in various categories at the black-tie gala. Furthermore, the husband and wife team of MITHAS founder George Ruckert and New England’s Kathak dance pioneer Gretchen Hayden Ruckert will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
About 400 entrepreneurs, corporate executives, philanthropists, educators and community leaders are expected to attend the New England Choice Awards gala, which is presented annually by the INE MultiMedia in collaboration with INDIA New England News, the region’s oldest and largest online, print and video magazine serving the South Asian community.
In an exclusive video interview with Dr. Manju Sheth on Chai With Manju earlier this year, Mr. Das talked about his growing up, early childhood, his guru, and the impact his father on him. To view the video interview, please click here or on the link below.
“Winning is always fun. But as an artist you don’t create work to win a trophy,” Mr. Das said in the interview. “I feel very fortunate and lucky that I am part of a great team. It is a victory for the team. I am just lucky to be a member of it.”
In 2009, Mr. Das founded Harmony and Universality through Music, known as HUM, which provides a common platform in India for artists of the highest caliber from across the world to share their music, tradition and heritage and facilitate an interaction among them.
Mr. Das, who settled in Boston about four years ago, teaches students table at his home, and maintains strong connection with his roots in India. He is considered one of the leading tabla players in the world today. He has carved out a niche for himself throughout the musical world.
Mr. Das went to school at St. Xavier’s Patna and then did his intermediate from Patna College, Patna University. Further education took him to Banaras Hindu University and he is a Gold Medalist in English Literature. At the age of sixteen, he had already performed with Ravi Shankar and subsequently with all the stars of Indian music. He was three times the all India drumming champion and was the youngest drummer ever to be graded by All-India radio.
Mr. Das has cut discs for more than 30 labels including Virgin, Sony and Makar Records, Music Today, Magnasound, and T-Series, among others.