Sam Evans

Mastery in Motion

Location

Melbourne, Australia

Sam Evans is a contemporary Australian tabla player. He works as a performer, composer and educator in Melbourne. Following a decade of study with Pandit Anindo Chatterjee in Kolkata, India and with Ustad Zakir Hussain in America, he is now a regular international performer of both traditional Indian music and contemporary world music.

20+

Awards

600+

Performances

1000+

Students

18+

Years Active

"I view learning the tabla much like learning a new language. My goal is to make the immense complexity of Indian rhythm accessible to everyone, regardless of their musical background. In my classroom, we focus on the vocalised rhythms (bols) as a way to internalise music before it reaches the fingers. I strive to create an environment where the joy of discovery is just as important as the discipline of practice."

— Sam Evans

About Sam Evans

Dr Sam Evans is a contemporary Australian tabla player. He works as a performer, composer and educator in Melbourne. Following a decade of study with Pandit Anindo Chatterjee in Kolkata, India and with Ustad Zakir Hussain in America, he is now a regular international performer of both traditional Indian music and contemporary world music.

He has toured north India multiple times as a soloist and accompanist, regularly works as a session recording artist throughout Australia, and runs several contemporary performing ensembles. He has many recordings, including music published by the BBC on an album featuring Ravi Shankar, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Nitin Sawhney. He composes music for film and documentaries, is the founding director of the Melbourne Tabla School, and is the only Australian to hold a PhD in tabla.

His innovative work directing world music ensembles and the Monash University World Music Orchestra for over twelve years is documented in his publication in the Oxford Handbook of Music Education. To further integrate tabla into formal education in Australia, he has established a pathway for students to study tabla at the secondary and university levels.