Versatile percussionist Shawn Mativetsky is a ganda-band disciple of Pandit Sharda Sahai of the Benares tabla gharana and has also studied tabla with Bob Becker. In addition, he has studied western classical percussion with Pierre Béluse, D’Arcy Gray, Andrei Malashenko, and Robert Slapcoff, and the percussion of Kathakali dance-theatre with Bruno Paquet. Shawn holds a Master’s degree in music from McGill University. Based in Montreal, Shawn teaches tabla and percussion at McGill University, where he directs the McGill Tabla Ensemble. He has been featured in contemporary music series such as Groundswell, Jusqu’aux Oreilles, and Evolutions. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra, Musica Nova, GEMS, and the percussion ensembles at the University of Toronto, McGill University, and William Paterson University.