Dexter Raghunanan

Dexter Raghunanan is a highly accomplished tabla player based in Houston Texas. He is one of the most distinguished Indian Classical artistes to originate from Trinidad W.I. Dexter always had a great penchant toward percussion as a child and his passion for drums was recognized by his paternal grandmother who bought his first pair of tabla and subsequently encouraged him to learn tabla formally. His musical journey began under tutelage of Shri Tensing Ramlakhan. It was not long before Dexter became a sought after accompanist and performer in Trinidad and the rest of the region. Dexter continued his tabla training and during his early years, he was fortunate enough to also learn from tabla players such as Shri Nirmal Mandal, Shri Sandeep Das and Pt Pooran Maharaj (son of the late Pt Kishen Maharaj.) Dexter established his own tabla school which started off with just four students in a temple in south Trinidad but soon expanded to a school of over two hundred. Dexter's love of tabla took him to the U.S. and Canada, where he accompanied many artistes. It was in Toronto that he met Shri Ritesh Das in 1999, since then he has received rigorous training under the guidance of Riteshji and his guru, Maestro of Lucknow gharana, Pt Swapan Chaudhuri. In 2005 Dexter moved to Houston Texas where he began teaching tabla and performing extensively in the U.S. with Classical musicians, Ghazal singers, Dancers and Fusion artistes. During his time in the U.S. Dexter has also had the opportunity to learn from the leading exponent of Farukhabad gharana, Pt Anindo Chatterjee. Performances with top Artistes include, Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Ranesh Misra, Anup Jalota, Pt. Ajay Jha, Sri Sudhir Narayan, Ustad Ghulam Abbas, Sri Indrajit Banerjee and Sunil Mungee to name a few......

With the sudden passing of Dexter on the morning of January 18, 2017, he has left a huge void in the hearts of all his loved ones. He was humble, well-loved and respected among his peers. Our condolences to his many friends, fans, students, well-wishers and loving family members. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

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