| Toronto Tabla Ensemble | |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Origin: | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genre: | North Indian Classical, World |
| Years Active: | 1991–present |
| Label: | Independent |
| Current Members: | Ritesh Das Razak Pirani Shamir Panchal Nivethan Velauthapillai Alysha Addetia |
| Associated Acts: | Pandit Chitresh Das Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri Evan Ritchie, Donald Quan, Jeff Martin, The Tea Party, Raaginder |
The Toronto Tabla Ensemble (TTE) is a non-profit charitable organization founded by Artistic Director and tabla master Ritesh Das. The performing ensemble has toured Canada coast-to-coast six times, toured Australia in 2006, and India in 2011.
Since 1996 the TTE has produced numerous music videos and seven albums, including Firedance, which received a nomination for the Juno Award for Best Global Album. Their original music has been used in numerous films and commercials, and in 2003 the Ensemble was commissioned to create the theme music for CBC Radio’s daily morning show, Metro Morning.[1] [2]
Ritesh Das founded the Toronto Tabla Ensemble in 1991 when he first presented a group of his students at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. From then on his mission was to collaborate with other artists and cultures. One of his first collaborations was with Japanese Taiko drummer Kiyoshi Nagata who later went on to form Nagata Shachu. Other collaborator include: kathak dancers Pandit Chitesh Das, multi-instrumentalist George Koller, composer Donald Quan, flamenco artist Esmeralda Enrique and in 2006 the TTE paired up with Canadian musician Jeff Martin from The Tea Party and toured Canada and Australia.
Their latest collaboration featured bagpiper Craig Downie from Enter the Haggis and created a music video 'Unexpected Guests' featuring over 50 artists which was completed a few weeks before the pandemic outbreak in March 2020.[3] [4] [5]
In 2016 the Toronto Tabla Ensemble celebrated its 25th anniversary with a pair of concerts at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. This was the official debut of the Toronto Tabla Youth Ensemble and featured brand new music composed by Artistic Director Ritesh Das. In addition to the tabla, students played South Indian mridangam, ghatam, and keyboard, and also launched the JAMKat. For this event, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, wrote a congratulatory letter which was presented by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Arif Virani, during the concert. The concert was supported in part by Ontario Arts Council.
In 2014 the Toronto Tabla Ensemble launched an innovative festival called the Indian Diaspora Festival.[6] The sold out festival launch featured performances of Indian dance and music performed by local and international artists. The tabla player was a student of Ritesh Das trained in Toronto while the kathak dancer was a student of Das' late brother Pandit Chitresh Das from California.[7]