Toronto Tabla Ensemble

Lower intermediate tabla class.

Students come on Sundays and continue the work. Through regular practice, they build steadiness and attention. What is developed here does not remain in the class—it carries into daily life. The discipline, the listening, the coordination begin to reflect in how one lives and works.

Online and in-person classes available.

Please register here:
https://torontotabla.com/school/

SARE PANCH (5½ beats)
Taiko moves into a solo passage while tabla holds the cycle and keeps time.
This collaboration unfolds over multiple excerpts, shared day by day.

Featuring the Toronto Tabla Ensemble and Nagata Shachu.
SARE PANCH is co-composed by Ritesh Das and Kiyoshi Nagata.

To study tabla, please register here:
https://torontotabla.com/school/

For performances and collaborations, please contact us through our website.

Toronto Tabla Ensemble offers tabla classes online and in person, with students participating from Canada, the United States, and internationally.

Online Classes (Zoom)
Friday evenings (EST)
Saturday mornings (EST)

In-Person Classes
Toronto — Sundays
London, Ontario — Saturdays

Classes are open to beginners and experienced students, with a focus on clarity, consistency, and a structured approach to learning.

Please register here:
https://torontotabla.com/school/

Final section of SARE PANCH (5½ beats).
A complete collaboration between tabla and taiko, co-composed by Ritesh Das and Kiyoshi Nagata, bringing together the Toronto Tabla Ensemble and Nagata Shachu.

The ensemble is available for performances, concerts, and presentations.
Tabla classes are offered online worldwide and in person in Toronto and London, Ontario.

To study tabla, please register here:
https://torontotabla.com/school/

With gratitude to the Ontario Arts Council - Conseil des arts de l'Ontario and the Government of Ontario for their generous support.

Many people have been watching these videos from Mauritius and other parts of the world, and we are grateful for that connection.

Because of this, we are beginning an additional Saturday morning Zoom tabla class, making it easier for students in Africa, Asia, and other regions to join comfortably.

If you would like to study tabla online, please register here:
https://torontotabla.com/school/

Students of the Toronto Tabla Ensemble performing on stage. Every member of the ensemble begins as a student studying tabla with Ritesh Das, and through years of training grows into an ensemble performer.

This is how the Toronto Tabla Ensemble has developed over the decades — study, rehearsal, and performance carried forward from one generation to the next, following a clear system of training within the ensemble.

In this way the ensemble continues a tradition rooted in the heritage of Indian music, while adapting that tradition within a Western ensemble context through collective study, rehearsal, and performance.

Tabla study and ensemble training are available in Toronto, London, Ontario, and online from anywhere in the world.
Please register here: https://torontotabla.com/school/

The Toronto Tabla Ensemble continues to grow across Ontario and beyond.
Here is a short glimpse of the Ensemble’s work — the same training, discipline, and clarity that shape every class we teach.

Classes are now running:

Toronto & GTA – in-person

London, Ontario & Southwestern Ontario – in-person

Online – open to students anywhere

Whether someone is just beginning or has been studying for years, the aim is the same: steady practice, real understanding, and rhythm that becomes part of one’s life.

If you’ve been wanting to study tabla seriously — or return to it — this is a good time to step in.
Please Register
https://torontotabla.com/school/

During this retreat in London, Ontario, I began composing new music for Chinmaya Mission Toronto’s Tabla Ensemble.

This is the starting point of a larger work that will continue to develop over time. It is part of an ongoing collaboration, building repertoire specifically for their students and ensemble setting.

If you would like to study tabla in Toronto, London, Ontario, or online from anywhere in the world, please register here:
https://torontotabla.com/school/

The Chinmaya Mission Toronto tabla students came to London, Ontario for their second retreat.

We worked intensively on tabla technique, ensemble awareness, and began shaping a new composition written specifically for them. Alongside the tabla, mridangam was woven into the work, building a true rhythmic dialogue.

These retreats allow deeper study — not only playing, but listening and functioning as one ensemble.

If you would like to study tabla in Toronto, London, Ontario, or online from anywhere in the world, please register here:
https://torontotabla.com/school/

Everyone wants to learn grooves.

But grooves have roots.

What you hear here is a traditional tabla composition. When you study compositions properly — the classical way — rhythm becomes clear. Structure becomes clear. From that clarity, grooves emerge naturally.

If you learn the grammar, you can speak any rhythm.

Study tabla.
Then play anything.

In-person classes in Toronto & London, Ontario.
Online classes every Friday (EST).
Additional online classes being arranged for different time zones.
Class Registration
https://torontotabla.com/school/