Tabla Player Kalyan Pathak
On April 13, 2025, acclaimed tabla player Kalyan Pathak will make his Northshore Concert Band debut in Reena Email’s Chamak.
Known for his dynamic stage presence and proficiency across drumset, tabla, and world percussion, Pathak captivates audiences with his rhythmic innovation and improvisational skill.
An expert tabla player, Kalyan Pathak who has played since childhood, is among the most sought-after tabla, drum set, and multi-ethnic percussionists in the United States. With a career spanning diverse genres and international stages, Pathak's musical journey is a testament to his unparalleled talent and versatility.
A recipient of a scholarship to the Chicago Musical College, Pathak earned his bachelor's degree in jazz studies with Summa cum laude honors and was named to the National Dean's List in 1996. Continuing to explore new artistic horizons, Pathak has composed for the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic's "Immigrant Stories" and recorded with his ensemble "Jazz Mata." He has also collaborated with the Chicago Silk Road Project, Fulcrum Point New Music, and Bollywood film composers Shankar Ehsaan Loy, showcasing his adaptability and inventive arranging style. Pathak tours with blues harmonica and piano legend Corky Siegel, leading Corky Siegel's Chamber Blues to new heights.
Highlights of Pathak’s career as a performer include appearances with Aretha Franklin and jazz organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, as well as solo engagements with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Ballet and a tour of Israel with Alberto Mizrahi and Peter Yarrow. He has appeared on stages worldwide, notably at Aretha Franklin’s memorial service in August 2018, the High Sierra Music Festival, the Noche Primavera Festival, the Ravinia Festival, and the Chicago Jazz Festival. Today, Pathak’s band is Kalyan Pathak’s Jazz Mata ‘Transformative Raga and Jazz’, and his latest CD is called "Dream With The Dreamers".
Equally well-versed as a composer, Pathak’s original score Shanti Paath was premiered by the Chicago Children’s Choir and Fulcrum Point New Music at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in 2013. In 2004, he collaborated with American jazz guitarist Fareed Haque to create a tabla part for Haque’s Lahara Double Concerto for sitar and tabla, which was premiered by the Chicago Sinfonietta and the late Zakir Hussain. He has collaborated and recorded with many ensembles and artists, including the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, Chicago Silk Road Project, and Bollywood film composers Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy.
Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune lauds Pathak for his “fleet finger virtuosity”, and the music group Tributosauraus, considered one of Chicago’s best-kept secrets by Chicago Tribune’s Christopher Borrelli, says about Pathak:
Kalyan Pathak brings a level of virtuosity to his instruments that makes each show sing at the percussion chair, but he brings so much more than that. [T]he energy and love for the process of music making that he brings to each show that he is a part of is infectious — both to the audience and the performers on stage.
Kalyan Pathak holds a degree in jazz studies from Roosevelt University and is an artist endorser for Tycoon Percussion, Paiste Cymbals, and MalletKat.
SPIRITED AWAY
Sunday, April 13, 2025, 3:00 p.m.
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Evanston, IL
Learn more about the Northshore Concert Band at www.northshoreband.org
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