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Tomal Hossain is a performer, composer, and researcher. He specializes in hindustani vocal and jazz piano performance, and he mostly compose and arrange for voices. Currently, he is investigating the place of music in Islam, but he is also interested in the origins of classical South Asian music in folk music idioms. He also develops for musical and web applications.
Tomal Hossain is a performer, composer, and researcher. As a vocalist and keyboard player specializing in South Asian musical genres ranging from Bollywood to Dhrupad music, Tomal Hossain has shared the stage with artists like Ashish Sankrityayan, Rezwana Choudhury Bannya, Leena Taposhi, Ferdous Ara, Ferdousi Rahman, and Salar Nader. In jazz and choral music contexts, Tomal has sung, directed, composed/arranged for, and/or played keys for the Amherst College Jazz Ensemble, the Amherst College Glee Club and Concert Choir, the Amherst College DQ, and the Smith College Javanese Gamelan Ensemble. Over the years, Tomal has been recognized for his outstanding performances by organizations such as the Indo-American Community Theatre, Federation of Bangladeshi Associations in North America (FOBANA), North American Bengali Conference (NABC), and the Chhayanaut Music School in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Tomal’s general research interests span voice studies and sacred sound. In 2017, he was name a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and Fulbright-Nehru Student Researcher to investigate the relationship between music and Islam and that of South Asian folk and art music traditions respectively. With a keen interest in computer programming and technology, much of Tomal’s ethnomusicological output takes form in blogs, radio journalism, documentary film, and interactive websites.
Tomal Hossain is a performer, composer, and researcher. Born and bred in Little Bangladesh in Los Angeles, CA, Tomal Hossain started performing Hindustani music and traditional music in Bengali and Urdu at age five. He has accompanied musicians specializing in genres ranging from Bollywood to Dhrupad music with his vocals and keyboard playing (harmonium, piano, electronic keyboard). Specifically, he has shared the stage with artists like Ashish Sankrityayan, Rezwana Choudhury Bannya, Leena Taposhi, Ferdous Ara, Ferdousi Rahman, and Salar Nader. Tomal has also taken to jazz and choral music performance, composition, and arrangement. In group settings, he’s sung and/or played for the Amherst College Jazz Ensemble, the Amherst College Glee Club and Concert Choir, the Amherst College DQ, and the Smith College Javanese Gamelan Ensemble. Over the years, Tomal has been recognized for his outstanding performances at various music venues and conventions including the Indo-American Community Theatre Annual Competition, Federation of Bangladeshi Associations in North America (FOBANA) annual cultural conventions, North American Bengali Conference (NABC) annual cultural conventions, and the Chhayanaut Music School in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Tomal’s general research interests include voice studies and sacred sound. In 2017, he was name a TJ Watson Fellow and Fulbright-Nehru Student Researcher to investigate the relationships between music and Islamic doctrine, philosophy, and culture and that of South Asian folk and art music traditions respectively. Tomal also has a keen interest in computer programming and technology. Thus, much of the output of his ethnomusicological research conforms to digital formats such as blog, podcast, documentary film, and interactive website formats.
Tomal has received the majority of his South Asian music and language instruction from visiting teachers at the Bangladesh Academy of Los Angeles including but not limited to Kishore Chakraborty, Nabendu Bhattacharya, Sujit Mustafa, Prakash & Deepak Mishra, Mazhar Hussain, and the late Mohammad Sayeed Khan. While at Amherst College, Tomal has had the good fortune of studying jazz piano performance with Eugene Uman, jazz theory with Jason Robinson and Bruce Diehl, choral conducting with Mallorie Chernin, and composition with Eric Wubbels and Eric Sawyer. Alongside studying and making music, Tomal teaches and tutors students in both private and group settings.