SALIL SACHDEV

Salil Sachdev is on the faculty of music at Bridgewater State University (BSU), Massachusetts, USA. He also chaired the music department for nine years. Salil has composed music for the orchestra, percussion, piano, theatre, voice, and electronic music. His teaching areas comprise music theory, form and analysis, introduction to world music, and introduction to music of Africa. As well, he founded and directed the West African Drumming Ensemble at BSU for fifteen years.

Salill organized the BSU Annual World Music Festival for ten years. His interest in world music has taken him to India, Ireland, Africa, and Cuba. He has studied hand percussion (including West African Djembe drumming), the Bodhrán (Irish drum), and Solkattu, the rhythmic system of south India.

Salil's long term project is to make a series of documentary films on the folk music of India. In 2008, he completed a film on the music of the Sidis, an ethnic group of East African ancestry living in India since the last 800-900 years. Upcoming projects comprise a film on the folk music of Rajasthan, a state in the northwest part of the country, and a film on music in Havana, Cuba.

In 2011, he also made a film on the traditional music of Mali, West Africa.

Guihangtar - Salil & Lê-Tuyên

"GUIHANGTAR DUO”

Guihangtar comprises guitarist Le-Tuyen Nguyen (Australia) and percussionist Salil Sachdev (USA). The duo initially emerged as a potential collaboration incorporating the guitar and the Hang (a percussion instrument invented in Switzerland in 2000). However, Guihangtar’s maiden concert in 2010 evolved to include other percussion instruments as well.

Guihangtar performs compositions and arrangements largely inspired by, but not limited to, nature and traditional music. The essence of the group is such that it is an evolving musical dialogue not bound by any specific cultural confines.

Traditional melodic and rhythmic idioms weave with Western music exploring the technical and expressive dimensions of the guitar, enhanced with percussion instruments from various parts of the world.

Guihangtar exemplifies a continually emerging and exciting interaction between two musicians with varied cultural and musical backgrounds residing on opposite sides of the world. It is an expression of tradition, innovation, and global interaction."