Teaching Staff
Meet the dedicated teaching staff behind Toronto Tabla Ensemble, experienced artists and mentors committed to inspiring the next generation through excellence in music, performance and cultural education.
FOUNDER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
RITESH DAS
Toronto Tabla Ensemble (TTE) is a collective dedicated to sharing the rich tradition of North Indian tabla through performance, education, and artistic collaboration. Bringing together classical roots with contemporary expression, TTE creates meaningful musical experiences for audiences of all backgrounds.
MEET THE FACULTY
TEACHER
Razak Pirani
Razak Pirani has been a tabla student of maestro Ritesh Das since he was 13 and joined TTE in 2011 with the Ensemble and independently, he has performed at venues across Toronto as well as in the USA and France. Razak is passionate about passing the art on to the next generation in Canada. He teaches tabla, leads training programs for the Toronto Tabla Youth Ensemble, and received an Independent Music Award for co-composing ‘Faceoff’ with his fellow students.
TEACHER
Shamir Panchal
Shamir Panchal is a student of maestro Ritesh Das and a member of the TTE since 2014. In addition to training and performing with the ensemble, he is involved in training the Toronto Tabla Youth Ensemble. Trained as an architect, Shamir also contributes his time to graphic design projects for the TTE including the artwork for the TTE’s for the album Bhumika. Shamir received an Independent Music Award for ‘Faceoff’ which he co-composed with Razak Pirani and Nevathan Vela.