Exponent of the Benares gharana, and disciple of the legendary Pandit Sharda Sahai, Shawn Mativetsky is a highly sought-after tabla performer and educator. He 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 solo CD, “Payton MacDonald: Works for Tabla”, was released in 2007, and “Cycles”, his CD of Canadian compositions for tabla, was released in the fall of 2011.

As a practitioner of Indian classical music, Shawn regularly gives solo tabla performances, as well as accompanying kathak dance, voice, bansuri, sarod, santoor, sarangi, and sitar artists. He performs often with Duo Samskara ‎and Sitaria. 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 worked closely with kathak dancer Sudeshna Maulik for her performances of Crossroads, Mehfil, Soul of Ganges, and Hands and Feet.

Shawn has performed numerous solo recitals, spanning Canada, the United States, the UK, and India and has been featured in series such as the Windsor Canadian Music Festival, Pontio / Music @ Bangor, New Music in New Spaces, Groundswell, Festival Montréal Baroque, Jusqu’aux Oreilles, Evolutions, Voyages: Montréal-New York, Festival International du Domaine Forget, New Works Calgary, Music Toronto, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. As an ensemble musician, Shawn Mativetsky performs regularly with violinist Parmela Attariwala’s cross-cultural Attar Project, Indo-fusion group Ragleela, Indian-folk group Galitcha, and the improv trio Of Sound, Mind and Body, with Tim Brady and Helmut Lipsky. A versatile studio musician, Shawn has appeared on albums by 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.

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.

ARTIST SET-UP:
– 7″, 8″, 9″ Radia Cup Chimes
– 7″ HHX Evolution Splash
– 10″ Paragon Splash
– 13″ HH Sound Control Crash
– 16″ HH Sound Control Crash
– 17″ Becker Bow cymbal
– 18″ HH Sound Control Crash/Ride
– 18″ HH Thin Chinese
– 19″ Sprimbal
– 14″ Paragon HiHats
– Chromatic octave of Resonating Bells