photo Sue Reeves, London Free Press
PRASHANT JOHN
Born in Lahore and raised in Bangladesh, Tandava's
founder Prashant Michael John has performed and
collaborated with musicians in India, Bangladesh, S.E.
Asia and North America in genres from folk, rock, and
jazz to world music. His evolving compositions, while
influenced by Indian, Pakistani and Bengali music,
combine the styles and instrumentation of a variety of
cultures. Prashant also performs and records
internationally with his trio Lehera with members
Prakash Sontakke and Karthik.Subramaniam, and with
Real World Studios recording artist, Nitya Das Baul.
In Canada, he records and collaborates with musicians
in different genres. He has studied Carnatic theory
and rhythm with K. Rajarangan, Carnatic flute with
Shankar Rao and Jazz with teachers from the Berklee
School of Music.
photo Wayne Lau
LAN TUNG
Lan crosses the lines between classical, contemporary, folk, blues and various ethnic styles, such as Indian, Celtic and Middle Eastern, to expand the horizons of the erhu. Trained at Taiwan's Chinese Cultural University, Lan went on to study with erhu virtuosi Jiebing Chen in San Francisco and Zhang Funming in Beijing, with Hindustani violinist Kala Ramnath in Bombay and Egyptian violinist Dr. Alfred Gamil in Cairo. Lan has performed with Huun Huur Tu (Tuva), Baka Beyond (UK), Khac Chi Ensemble (Vietnam) and Hossam Shaker (Egypt). As a member of the Crossing Borders Ensemble, Lan shares the stage with many Vancouver's innovative improvisers, such as Ron Samworth and Coat Cooke. She has premiered numerous contemporary compositions by Canadian and US composers. The various influences are evident in Lan's music, written for the JUNO nominated Orchid Ensemble, which she founded in 1997. A concert producer and arts administrator, Lan also serves as a board director of the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra.
photo Wayne Lau
JONATHAN BERNARD
Jonathan combines his background in western percussion with a fascination for Asian traditions to create a unique sound palette incorporating a myriad of instruments, techniques and styles. Jonathan's interests span numerous genres from orchestral music to new music, and world music. Having premiered over 70 chamber works, Jonathan regularly performs with the Orchid Ensemble, Vancouver New Music, Four Gallon Drum, Ensemble Symposium, and numerous orchestras including Vancouver, Victoria, National Ballet and CBC Radio Orchestras. He is currently the principal percussionist with the Vancouver Island Symphony. Jonathan's interest in World Music has led him to perform Chinese, Javanese, Balinese and Korean music and study traditional and contemporary Chinese percussion in Beijing and Arabic percussion in Cairo with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. Jonathan has toured throughout North America, Europe and Japan.
photo Wayne Lau
STEFAN CIHELKA
Since 1993, Stefan has studied the art of Tabla under the guidance of the great Ustad Allarakha, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Fazal Qureshi, Pandit Yogesh Samsi and Sri Satwant Singh. He has performed and recorded with many prominent international artists such as Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Ustad Irshad Khan, Sri Salil Bhatt, Abdullah Chaddeh, Amir Koushkani, the Tea Party, Harry Manx, Ian Moore, the VSO, the CPO and many others. Stefan is not only a performer of traditional Indian classical music, but also an important figure in the world music/fusion scene and teacher in Vancouver. Stefan's sensitivity and creativity have allowed him to perform with musicians from India, Eastern Europe, Ireland, Africa, China and most notably Iran, where he has begun the study of Persia's percussion traditions with master Pejman Hadadi.
