Yashokamini

Yashokamini, the percussionist, instrumentalist, musician, answers to her fond name, Yash. She is the offspring of Guyanese parents who have kept her grounded in exploring and learning about her Guyanese culture. At 4 years old, Yash was presented with her first instrument, the tabla. Five years later, she started taking tabla lessons at The East Indian Music Academy, where history began, as she was the first girl to graduate as a tabla player. She continues to make history.   

Yash is actively involved in the Indo-Caribbean community in Queens, NY, where she passionately volunteers in various capacities. For many years, she has volunteered as a stage crew member for shows at The Nirvana Humanitarian Foundation, and as a lecturer at The Arya Spiritual Center - her Temple -where she has been a camp leader for three years and she lectured about being a female drummer. 

Yash considers herself a percussionist and plays instruments such as the Majeera, bells, and the cabeza. As a percussionist playing these instruments, she focuses on enriching the music and performances. Although she considers herself a percussionist, Yash is super comfortable playing drums. In addition to the playing the tabla for which she was professionally taught and trained, as mentioned before, she plays five other types of drums, which were self-taught. These drums are the dholak which she began playing 24 years ago; the drum pads or electric drums, 20 years ago; the doumbek, 13 years ago; the dafli, five years ago and the udongo, which she only began playing last year. 

Yash, the accomplished tabla player has performed at international and national spaces. Internationally, she has performed in Barbados, Canada and Guyana. Nationally, she has performed in the NY/Tri-state areas including Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and New Jersey. She was showcased as a drummer in the show, Little Angels hosted by the renowned Angels Caribbean Band. For eight years, she has performed as a drummer for the annual Sangeet Sabha at Queens College in Queens, NY. This annual concert was hosted by The East Indian Music Academy. She takes pride in acknowledging that for her last Sangeet Sabha performance she was the only female performing, and the only female playing the tabla solo.

Additionally, she is also done multiple performances for the Guyana Day celebrations in the presence of the Council General of Guyana, the Honorable, Barbara Atherly; and Guyana’s Ambassador to the United Nations, the Honorable, Rudolph Ten-Pow. Last year, Yash performed for the Valerie Rodway’s Centennial Concert hosted by the Guyana Cultural Association of New York of New York, Inc. Most recently in February of this year (2020), she performed at Guyana’s Republic Jubilee Celebration held at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn. 

Yash is unique in the world of Indian Classical Music because of the rarity of being a female tabla player, and more importantly, a Caribbean female tabla player. Her crowning moment came some years ago, when she performed a drum duet at a private concert in New Jersey, with Drums Sivamani, the world-famous Indian percussionist from the Oscar award-winning music team of Slumdog Millionaire. Together, they performed Churaliya, an old Bollywood song.   

Like many performing artist, Yash’s upcoming performances have been cancelled due to the pandemic.