Utsav 2004

Pandit Homnath Upadhyaya

Pandit Homnath Upadhyaya is a veteran of the art and has been playing Tabla for more than 40 years. His gurus include Pandit Ramji Mishra of Benares, Shambhu Mishra of Kathmandu, Nepal, and legendary Tabla player Ahmedjaan Thirakwa. Homnath has taught and performed internationally and has numerous students all over the world. He has played in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Austria, USA, India, Pakistan and Bangla Desh, and has served as an Instructor at the Royal Nepal Academy, Kathmandu. Early in his career he played in the film orchestra of famed music director S. D. Burman. He is the recipient of the Kirateshwar Sangeetshram award, the Narayan Sangeet Pratishthan fellowship from Royal Nepal Academy for research, and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center Collaborative Projects Grant at University of California - Santa Barbara. Presently he teaches Tabla at the University of California - Santa Barbara. This is Homnath-ji’s third visit to Seattle. Many will remember him from his 1975 visit to with the charming Nepali group Sagar Sangeet.