Nilan Chaudhuri is a Bay Area based percussionist, educator, and performer. Initiated into the tradition of Indian Classical Music at the age of five by his father, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, Nilan has been performing as a tabla soloist and accompanist for nearly two decades. Prior to beginning his formal training with his father in 2000, Nilan studied tabla with Brad Van Cleve, Tim Witter, and Uttam Chakraborty, all of whom are senior disciples of his father.
Drawing inspiration from his father’s innovative approach to classical tabla solo, Nilan was determined from a young age to be a soloist. He presented his first public tabla recital at the age of eleven, at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, in the presence of Maestro Ali Akbar Khansahib. It was during these formative years that Nilan was introduced to the world of Tabla accompaniment by Maestro Ali Akbar Khan, providing rhythmic support for his vocal and instrumental classes at the college.
As a teenager, Nilan was inspired by the Jazz-fusion Band ‘Oregon’ a group spearheaded by his cousin, multi-percussionist, Collin Walcott. The band’s music influenced Nilan to broaden his rhythmic studies, and in 2003, he began learning the drum set with Sly Randolph, of Richmond, California. Today, Nilan experiments regularly with bridging the two styles of Indian and American drumming, and plays a hybrid kit that fuses together the tabla and drum set, and incorporates electronic percussion instruments like the Roland HandSonic, and Ableton Push. Since 2007, Nilan has had the incredible opportunity to attend tabla-centric rhythm workshops conducted by Ustad Zakir Hussain. He has also attended South Indian percussion classes taught by ghatam Vidwan Subhash Chandran, kanjira Vidwan Ganesh Kumar, and Jim Santi Owen.
Since his debut performance in concert with his father in Queens, NY, in 2005, Nilan has had the privilege of sharing the stage with some of Hindustani Classical Music’s most celebrated artists, like Ustad Amjad Ali Khansahib, Ustad Shujaat Khan, Pt. Ramesh Misra, Pt. Debashish Bhattacharya, and Alam Khan, at venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Fillmore, The Monterey Pop Festival, The Richmond Folk Festival, Fox Theater, The San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, and The Kennedy Center. His genre-bending collaborations include performances, projects, and recordings with the likes of conductor Michael Morgan and the Fremont Symphony, pop star, Beck, sitarist, Arjun Verma, sarodist, Manik Khan, violinist Raaginder Singh Momi, The Toronto Tabla Ensemble, George Brooks, Dennis Chambers, Miles Schon, and DJ Teeko. In addition to maintaining a rigorous performing schedule, Nilan teaches Tabla throughout the Bay Area as a faculty member at the Ali Akbar College of Music, in San Rafael, and as the Director of Percussion at Chitresh Das Institute, in San Mateo. He also serves as an archivist at the Ali Akbar College of Music, where the construction of a musical archive spanning 40 years of his Father’s work, is underway. It’s his lifelong mission to contribute to the preservation and enrichment of Indian Classical percussion.
Media
Videos
Alam Khan - Passage. From the EP "Vignettes"
Featuring: Nilan Chaudhuri - Tabla & Nazan Aktas - Cello
Audio
photos
events
NEws
Chitresh Das Institute Offering Kathak & Tabla lessons
World class instruction beginning to advanced, children, teens and adults.
Nilan featured in DRUM! Magazine
Interview on Transtabla
Tabla Demystified: Get Started With The World’s Most Expressive Drum
You don’t need to be a tabla master or have access to Abbey Road Studios to appreciate what has been called the most expressive drum in the world. Though The Beatles are largely responsible for popularizing the sound in Western music, there’s a lot to love about the beautiful and unique instrument beyond the nostalgic flower power of the ’60s. After stripping away some of the mystery surrounding these drums, you might even want to try them for yourself.
Nilan Joins the Toronto Tabla Ensemble!
In 2017 Nilan Chaudhuri joined forces with director Ritesh Das and Ensemble to create the track Saru Nau featured on the ensembles latest album Bhumika
teaching
Nilan teaches privately as well as in person and online through
the Ali Akbar College of Music and Chitresh Das Institute
shop
Nilan Tabla offers a variety of Hand Made Tabla sets and accessories for purchase, produced by some of Kolkata’s most reputed manufactures. These drums are excellent for beginners and seasoned performers alike. Please contact directly for more product information, or to place an order.
full tabla set
A Complete set includes Tabla, Bayan, Protective Covers, Rings, Tuning Hammer, and carrying Case.
bayan
Hand made Copper Bayan
Tabla
Neem/Mahagony Custom Hand Made Tabla’s available in a variety of diameters and pitches
Accessories
Tabla rings, Protective Covers, and Tuning Hammers available in a variety of Designs/colorways