User:Swapanda

Ben Mawhorter is a student of world renowned tabla maestro Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri. His study of the North Indian tabla began at age ten. He began his study with Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri at the Ali AKbar College of Music in San Rafael,California in late 2001. He bases his style of playing on that of his teacher Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri. Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri is the leading exponent of the Lucknow Gharana and is considered among the best tabla players in the world today.

Ben Mawhorter performed/recorded extensively in the San Francisco Bay area with world music icons such as Matthew Montfort of the group Ancient Future and sitarist Habib Khan. His association with these two musicians took him to Beirut,Lebanon in late 2000 for a series of performances that were well received by local music critics. His work with Habib Khan spawned several c.d. collaborations in which Ben Mawhorter was a featured percussionist. In addition to his performances with Matthew Montfort and Habib Khan Ben Mawhorter has shared the stage with world percussionists Ravi Gutala, Abinay Padhye, Emam, Tim Boling, John Waller, Abdul Sultan, and many others.