As an ensemble musician, Shawn Mativetsky performs regularly with the contemporary music collectives, Ensemble Mont-Royal and Ensemble Kore, violinist Parmela Attariwala's cross-cultural Attar Project, and the Indian-folk group Galitcha. Shawn has performed numerous solo recitals, spanning Canada, the United States, England, and India. He has been featured in series such as the Windsor Canadian Music Festival, New Music in New Spaces, Groundswell, Festival Montréal Baroque, Jusqu’aux Oreilles, Evolutions, Voyages: Montréal-New York, Festival International du Domaine Forget, New Works Calgary, Music Toronto, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention.

Since 2003, Shawn has been affiliated with the Pandit Ram Sahai Foundation (UK/India), and in the summers of 2006 and 2008, hosted tabla maestro Pandit Sharda Sahai's annual summer tabla workshop. As a practitioner of Indian classical music, Shawn regularly gives solo tabla performances, as well as accompanying kathak dance, voice, bansuri, sarod, and sitar artists. Regular performances with the Indian-folk group, Galitcha, have led to concerts across Canada and the US, as well as tours to France and Tunisia, and the chance to play with guest musicians such as Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Salil Bhatt, Harry Manx, and Yves Lambert.

Shawn’s work as composer and percussionist in Geordie Theatre’s productions of Brahm and the Angel (2005) and Hansel and Gretel (2003) was met with critical acclaim. In 2003, he performed in Théâtre du Rideau Vert’s highly successful production of Paulo Coelho’s L’Alchimiste and was musical director and performer in Ensemble Mahapooram’s Le Lion du Panjshir and Danse Kalashas / Usine C’s dance production, En Himalaya. In 2006, he collaborated with the dancer Manijeh Ali, composing music for her solo dance choreography, Spirit of the Mountain.

Shawn has also performed with Ramasutra, Matter of Time, Ensemble Mahapooram, Ragleela, Lithium Ensemble, the Montreal Organ Consort, and Duo Sheppard-Lanza, as well as with a number of symphony orchestras in Canada. His performances have been recorded for radio and television, including CBC, Radio Canada, Bravo, CH Montreal, and Zee Music (UK/India). In 2000, his recording with Ramasutra won an ADISQ Felix award, and was nominated for a Juno.

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 and has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Department of Canadian Heritage, and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.

Affiliated with the Pandit Ram Sahai Sangit Vidyalaya (UK/India)	Shawn Mativetsky plays and endorses SABIAN cymbals.

CD Reviews

"Mativetsky really shines on this recording as he navigates his way through the vast repertoire of Indian rhythmic melodic phrases and time cycles. The solo pieces highlight his mastery of the numerous strokes, sounds and melodic facets of the tabla." Terry O'Mahoney, Percussive Notes

"Mativetsky and the William Paterson University Percussion Ensemble play with easy grace and throbbing vitality. The CD should be of strong interest to fans of percussion, and of creative syntheses of Western and world musics that compromise the integrity of neither." 4.5 stars out of 5 - Stephen Eddins, allmusic.com

"...he brings a virtuosic command of his instrument to the material..." - textura.org

"The results are fascinating." - Richard Todd, Ottawa Citizen

"The work of tabla player Shawn Mativetsky and the William Paterson University Percussion Ensemble is often trance-inducing." 3.5 stars out of 4 - John Terauds, Toronto Star

Other Press Reviews

"[Shawn Mativetsky's] solo contemporary tabla recital... attracted quite a crowd... It was a beautiful mix of eastern music with western rhythms and western music with eastern beats." - Bharat Times, Montréal

"On a été transporté par les sonorités du tabla de Shawn Mativetsky." - CIBL FM, Montréal

"Our senses were instantly tingled..." - The Gazette, Montréal

"Ces artistes [Jacques Phénix et Shawn Mativetsky] que l'on aurait aimé avoir connus plus tôt... La performance des musiciens a envoûté les auditeurs par cette musique qui, nul doute, ouvre l'esprit et permet à l'âme de voyager... Soirée magnifique." - L'Avenir, Montréal

"All the while, percussionist Shawn Mativetsky -- unobtrusive but omnipresent -- produced an aural landscape that both enhanced and inspired." - The Gazette, Montréal

"...les deux musiciens... Bruno Paquet et Shawn Mativetsky, font mille et une merveilles de leurs 10 doigts." - Voir, Montréal

Discography (click)