Dynamic performer Shawn Mativetsky is considered one of Canada's leading ambassadors of the tabla, and is a pioneer in bridging the worlds of Western and Indian classical music. Acclaimed as an exceptional soloist and a leading disciple of the renowned Pandit Sharda Sahai, Shawn Mativetsky is highly sought-after as both performer and educator, and is active in the promotion of the tabla and North Indian classical music through lectures, workshops, and performances across Canada and internationally. Based in Montreal, Shawn teaches tabla and percussion at McGill University. His most recent solo tabla album, Rivers, is rooted in the rich traditions of the Benares style of tabla playing. Shawn's new book, RUDIMENTAAL, features compositions for snare drum, inspired by the tabla drumming of North India.
As a practitioner of Indian classical music, Shawn regularly gives solo tabla performances, as well as accompanying kathak dance and instrumental artists. Since 2003, Shawn has been affiliated with the Pandit Ram Sahai Foundation (UK/India), and in the summers of 2006 and 2008, hosted tabla maestro Pandit Sharda Sahai's annual summer tabla workshop. Since 2011, Shawn has been hosting his own annual summer tabla workshop at McGill University. In recent years, he has been working closely with santoor player Jonathan Voyer, sitarist Uwe Neumann, and kathak dancer Sudeshna Maulik.
Shawn has performed numerous recitals around the world, and has been featured in the International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival (Cyprus), Clazz International Music Festival (Italy), Pontio / Music @ Bangor, Vale of Glamorgan Festival (Wales), Shastra Festival, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (USA), Sound Symposium, Windsor Canadian Music Festival, New Music in New Spaces, Groundswell, Western Front, Open Space, VICO's Global Soundscapes Festival, Festival Montréal Baroque, Jusqu’aux Oreilles, Evolutions, Voyages: Montréal-New York, Festival International du Domaine Forget, New Works Calgary, and Music Toronto (Canada). As an ensemble musician, Shawn Mativetsky performs with trio Mativetsky, Amiri & Pagé, violinist Parmela Attariwala's cross-cultural Attar Project, Indo-fusion group Ragleela, very long cat, a tabla / electronic music duo with live coder David Ogborn, the improv trio Of Sound, Mind and Body, with Tim Brady and Helmut Lipsky, and percussion group Ensemble Duniya. A versatile studio musician, Shawn has appeared on albums by Elsiane, Joel Miller, Yann Perreau, Elephant Stone, Suzie Leblanc, Ramachandra Borcar, and Daniel Lavoie. Regular performances with Galitcha have led to concerts across Canada and the US, as well as tours to France and Tunisia, the chance to play with guest musicians such as Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Salil Bhatt, Harry Manx, and Yves Lambert, as well as a performance for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, during their visit to Canada.
Shawn’s work as composer and percussionist in Geordie Theatre’s productions of Brahm and the Angel (2005) and Hansel and Gretel (2003) was met with critical acclaim. In 2003, he performed in Théâtre du Rideau Vert’s highly successful production of Paulo Coelho’s L’Alchimiste and was musical director and performer in Ensemble Mahapooram’s Le Lion du Panjshir and Danse Kalashas / Usine C’s dance production, En Himalaya. In 2006, he collaborated with the dancer Manijeh Ali, composing music for her solo dance choreography, Spirit of the Mountain. In recent years, he has collaborated with dancer Julie Beaulieu on her productions Mousson and Natya, kathak dancer Sudeshna Maulik on her productions Mehfil, Soul of Ganges, and Hands and Feet, plus in collaboration with Odissi dancer Enakshi Sinha on Crossroads and Taka Dhilanga.
Shawn has also performed with Ramasutra, Erreur de Type 27, Matter of Time, Ensemble Kore, Ensemble Mont-Royal, Ensemble Mahapooram, Lithium Ensemble, the Montreal Organ Consort, and Duo Sheppard-Lanza, as well as with a number of symphony orchestras in Canada. His performances have been recorded for radio and television, including CBC, Radio Canada, Bravo, CH Montreal, and Zee Music (UK/India). In 2000, his recording with Ramasutra won an ADISQ Felix award, and was nominated for a Juno.
Prior to becoming a disciple of Pandit Sharda Sahai, Shawn Mativetsky studied tabla with renowned percussionist Bob Becker, a senior disciple of Pandit Sharda Sahai. In addition to his tabla studies, Shawn Mativetsky studied Western classical percussion with Pierre Béluse, D’Arcy Gray, Andrei Malashenko, and Robert Slapcoff, and the percussion of kathakali dance-theatre with Bruno Paquet. Shawn holds a Master’s degree in music from McGill University and has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Department of Canadian Heritage, and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.
