Trailblazer: How Ishaan Ghosh is taking the Tabla to new frontiers

Born into one of Indian classical music’s most respected lineages, Ishaan Ghosh could have stayed safely within tradition. Instead, he’s reimagining it. At 24, the Tabla virtuoso stands at a rare intersection—carrying forward the Farrukhabad tradition while challenging what Indian rhythm can sound like on a global stage.

The son of Pandit Nayan Ghosh and grandson of the legendary Padma Bhushan Pandit Nikhil Ghosh, Ishaan grew up immersed in music. His grand-uncle, Pandit Pannalal Ghosh, pioneered the bansuri’s place in Indian classical music, popularizing it as a solo concert instrument and developing the larger, seven-holed Flute that gave it a deeper, more expressive voice.

Ishaan’s earliest memories—playing Tabla as a toddler, listening to stories about Ahmed Jan Thirakwa and Omkarnath Thakur at bedtime, absorbing raags like nursery rhymes—laid a foundation that was deep, but never narrow. His training extended beyond Tabla to vocal music, sitar, and theory, shaping a musician who thinks across disciplines.

He’s performed with stalwarts like Pandit Jasraj, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty, Kaushiki Chakraborty, Niladri Kumar, and Taufiq Qureshi, while steadily building a parallel career as a soloist and collaborator. His playing is precise but not rigid. More importantly, Ishaan is reshaping where and how the Tabla lives today.

In Euphoria, a techno-Tabla single, he places Indian rhythm at the heart of a contemporary soundscape. With The Rasa Experience, he rethinks the classical concert format, creating immersive spaces where artists and audiences meet without the usual formal distance. And through ARAJ—his neoclassical ensemble featuring S. Akash (Flute), Mehtab Ali Niazi (Sitar), Vanraj Shastri (Sarangi), and Pratik Singh (Vocals and Tabla)—he’s building a space where younger musicians can innovate from a place of respect rather than rebellion.

Ishaan is bringing the depth of Indian rhythm into conversations and spaces that often leave it out. He’s not following a trend. He’s expanding the tradition—and making sure it belongs to his generation too.

And he’s just getting started.