Roedde House Museum and Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra is pleased to present our first Music of the World concert of the season –  “Sounds of India” featuring Sitar virtuoso Sharanjeet Singh Mand and Sunny Matharu on the Tabla to delight us with a performance on traditional Indian instruments. 

Sharanjeet Singh Mand (Sitar) is a young Virtuoso of Sitar and Surbahar.
He is a disciple of doyen of Indian Classical Music,  Pandit Harvinder Sharma. Sharanjeet is one of the foremost representative of Ustad Vilayat Khan’s Gharana among his generation.  Sharanjeet is also an accomplished composer and a devoted Guru.
In 2018, Sharanjeet created history by becoming the first ever Indian Classical musician to perform a solo concert for Juno Awards. CBC listed Sharanjeet as one of30 under 30 Hottest Classical Musicians in 2019. It is hailed as a historic breakthrough throughout world as Sharanjeet is the first ever non-western classical musician to make it on the list.

Sharanjeet is widely known as a Sitarist with impeccable style and flair, and his performances have enthralled audiences in India, Canada, USA and many other countries alike. A young and dynamic performer, his style of performance is laced with fast taans and soulful gayaki ang. Many consider him as one of the bearers of Sitar. 

Carrying forward rich musical heritage of Imdad Khani gharana, he has developed a very unique and sensitive style of Gayaki Ang (vocal imitation by instrument). His repertoire includes captivating musical ornaments like Khatka, Murki , Meend , Gamak etc. of Khayal style and Progressive Jor and Jhalla with unique patterns of improvisation in different rhythmic cycles in traditional as well as rarely played ragas.

Sharanjeet is regularly invited as a guest lecturer at Douglas College, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and many other institutions. Sharanjeet is a resident teacher/performer at Places Des Arts, one of Canada’s oldest conservatory.

Being equally apt in Indian and Western Classical music, Sharanjeet has collaborated with musicians of both genres and has composed music for ensembles and orchestras.   He has been credited to be the first ever Sitarist to play ‘Art Song’ (Opera) ‘Ave Maria’ on Sitar.

Sunny Marathu (Tabla)

Growing up in a musical family and being surrounded by music, Sunny began his training in Tabla at a very young age.  His training started with Ustad Satwant Singh, who gave him a strong foundation in the art of Tabla playing. To this day, he continues to learn under the guidance of Tabla maestro Pandit Yogesh Samsi, one of the most famous and foremost Tabla players of the Punjab Gharana (style of playing). Over the last 25 years, Sunny has accompanied numerous musicians from around the world including many world-renowned musicians from the Indian Classical music tradition. 

Besides being trained as a classical musician, Sunny is known as versatile Tabla player and has also accompanied for dance, fusion and western classical music.  The Punjab style is known for its rich poetry and complex rhythmic patterns, this has enabled Sunny to be comfortable accompanying many genres and styles of music and dance.

As a youth, Sunny was given the opportunity to accompany Pandit Jasraj, a world-renowned vocalist from the Mewati style of singing, during his vocal classes in Vancouver.  This led to further opportunities accompanying various musicians both locally and internationally.  Sunny is recognized as one of Canada’s leading Tabla players and he is sought by India’s top classical musicians to accompany on Tabla.

In addition to accompanying, Sunny regularly performs Tabla solos locally within Canada and has also played solos in USA, UK, Australia and India.

Join us in this unique intimate experience of chamber music in the Roedde House Parlour and enjoy a light refreshment in our dining room.