DEEP'S BIO

Dr. Deepak "Deep" Shenoy has spent 25 years dedicated to performing Hindustani (traditional North Indian classical) music.  His ensemble is called "Kundalika," which is a Sanskrit word for circle.  His focus is to foster cross-cultural musical collaboration based on Indian ragas (melodies) and taals (rhythms), with a heavy focus on improvisation.   He calls this innovative format global jugalbandi.  Deep plays tabla (North Indian classical drums), sarod (a North Indian classical lute), and many other instruments.   He is based in the Washington, DC area. 

Deep is available for: 

  • Music performances. Deep has experience performing at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the prestigious LaMaMa Experimental Theatre in New York, and more than 200 other venues and festivals.  He has experience playing with traditional Indian classical folk music, as well as jazz, bluegrass, Japanese classical music, and Manding music.  He is currently booking appearances for his talented cross-cultural ensemble that plays his original raga-based compositions in the innovative global jugalbandi format.  He is available for work in the Washington DC area as well as travel. 
  • Dance performances.  Deep plays both tabla and melodic instruments for live dance performances.  He's a musician and board member of the innovative Indian dance company Nootana. 
  • Studio work.  Deep has recorded on multiple albums, such as his album "Echoes of Anahata," the Alex Martin Quintet's "Folk Songs, Jazz Journeys," Mya Rodgers' "The Gathering," and Circle in the Round's "Transparency."
  • Arts education. Deep has taught Indian music to students as well as provided workshops to musicians from multiple traditions, including for the global International Society of Improvisational Music.  

A personal note from Deep:

"Music is life, and it is infinite.  I am grateful to the Gods, my teachers, and my musical friends to have been able to experience a little bit of the vastness of it in my life.  My favorite form of music is improvised music, both traditional and across traditions.  When improvising, my friends and I often sit in a circle ("kundalika").  We find something in the seemingly empty space between the players.  Sometimes we can hear, for a few moments of synchronicity, the echoes of anahata, the first, unstruck sound that birthed the universe, and it is a wonderous sound."