About

Tomal Hossain is a Chicago-based musician and ethnomusicologist. His ongoing PhD dissertation research through the University of Chicago examines the socioeconomic field of tarana song performance among Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh as an interface for the processing and management of a collective multigenerational state of being in limbo as a stateless people through the lens of an Islamic epistemology of diaspora. His musical training includes private vocal instruction rooted in the Patiala gharana of Hindustani raga music from Sri Nabendu Bhattacharya and, more recently, Sri Anol Chatterjee—both disciples of the great vocal maestro, Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty—alongside supplementary instruction and coursework in Western classical, jazz, and maqam musics. Tomal specializes in solo vocal performance of khayal and nazrulsangeet while maintaining additional performance commitments as a founding member of Hamnavai, a Chicago-based ensemble specializing in Islamic repertoire, and a producer/DJ under the stage name Gamboge. Aside from his academic and music-making commitments, Tomal serves as director of the Rohingya Performing Arts Center in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, board member of Refugee Women for Peace and Justice, and co-founder of the Chicago Mehfil artist collective. Tomal’s research and music have been variously supported by the Fulbright Program, the Watson Foundation, the American Institute of Bangladeshi Studies, the Federation of Bangladeshi Associations in North America (FOBANA), the North American Bengali Conference (NABC), and the North American Nazrul Conference (NANC) among other institutions. Prior to his ongoing PhD program in ethnomusicology, Tomal earned a BA in Computer Science and Music from Amherst College and a certificate in ethnomusicology from the Five College Consortium (2017).