In this episode Faridah, she talks to one of Malaysia’s greatest tabla master, player and teacher, Prakash Kandasamy.

Having learnt to play the tabla at the age of 16 at the Temple of Fine Arts (TFA) Kuala Lumpur, he then flew to Pune to continue learning the instrument.

Upon returning to his homeland, he started his musical career performing with the TFA orchestra, prominent sitar musicians like Samuel J Dass, Kumar Karthigesu, and Kalpana Paranjothy, pop artiste Reshmonu, and fusion ensembles such as Inner Space, Prana, Swarasia and more.

His first award was in 1990 when he received the SivaGopal Award from The Temple of Fine Arts KL, followed by National Awards such as “Tokoh Seni Negeri Pulau Penang” (2003), “Anugerah Seni Negara” (2006), “Datin Seri Endon Award for Performing Arts Excellence” (2009), and the most recent one from India, “Aryabhatta International Award” (2019).

He is also a tabla educator and has been teaching for almost two decades at TFA and ASWARA.

This episode is supported by Cultural Economy Development Agency.