CHAKARDAR

“Chakardar’s aim is to serve the cause of tabla. It seeks to project this unique drum in a way that informs people of its incredible versatility, showcasing its tremendous tonal variety and extensive subject matter, which vastly outshines the average scope of any other drum that one can think of. Chakardar’s purpose is therefore to bring tabla to the foreground to where this wonderful instrument rightfully belong”.

“They’ve successfully brought this about, and continue to do so, by hosting workshops and solos by top masters of the instrument, and by also bringing about an intimate interaction between the teacher and the student, which has always been the basis of the Indian system of musical education. I applaud Chakardar for their exemplary work, as well as their passion for tabla. I extend my complete support to their noble purpose and wish them all the best in all their future projects.”

Bikram Ghosh

Chakardar was established in 1994. The impetus for the creation of a percussion group came with the need to give students a chance to showcase their Tabla skills. Whilst, great artists get exposure and performing, jamming etc opportunities, little exists along this line for the amateur UK artist.

The group's debut performance was a Tabla Tarang perfomed in Southend on Sea for the much acclaimed event - Maatri Chinta. Since then Chakardar has gone from strength to strength, not only in the performing arena, but also hosting concerts and recently launching recordings of live performeances. Now Chakardar has two wings: the organisational and the performing group.

As an organisation, Chakardar has hosted numerous Tabla Solos, workshops, masterclasses, lecture demos etc by none other than the greatest Tabla players of our time. Pandit Shankar Ghosh, Pt Anindo Chatterjee, Pt Kumar Bose, Subhankar Baherjee, Bikram Ghosh have all performed on various stages across the country. Chakardar has now taken the mantle from TAAL and is working hard to build upon 25 years of Tabla expertise established first by Gurmit Singh Virdee in the UK. Education has always been the driving force behind Chakardar's activities and in this the organisation has continued to go from strength to strength, culminating in the 2003 Summer School which proved to be a great success. Plans for 2004 include a broadened curriculum for the Summer School which will include vocal and instrumental tuition - making the new South Asian Music Summer School the largest residential school of its kind in the UK.

The Chakardar performing group members have been learning Tabla from Harkirat for a number of years. Performing as a group has enabled greater contact with artists such as Bikram Ghosh, Swapan Chaudhuri and Zakir Hussain. The group's main motivation is classical Tabla, however it is now begining to venture into the realm of fusion with other UK artists. The hope is that eventually music will be created with artists across the world.

If you are a young UK amateur/professional artist and would like an opportunity to perform/practise with Tabla players in the UK contact............................... harkirat@chakardar.com.