Salar Nader
About this Artist
A standout artist of his generation, tabla virtuoso Salar Nader is recognized as a global ambassador weaving South Asian arts into the musical traditions of his Afghanistan heritage. A percussionist, composer, and producer, Salar studied under Ustad Zakir Hussain since the age of seven. He has toured widely with Stanley Clarke, Kronos Quartet, Wu Man, Miles From India, and Third Coast Percussion; Central Asian master musicians Homayoun Sakhi and Abbos Kosimov; and legendary Indian classical musicians including Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Selva Ganesh, Alam Khan, Rahul Sharma, Kathak dancer Antonia Minnecola, and many others. He has performed and recorded with contemporary & electronic artists including Cheb i Sabbah, Niyaz, and Grand Tapestry.
Based in Los Angeles, Salar is committed to bringing the tabla to a wide audience. He collaborated on Farah Yasmeen Shaikh and Noorani Dance production “The Forgotten Empress,” has appeared on soundtracks including the 2012 film "The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” and scored the original stage adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling novel “The Kite Runner,” which had a groundbreaking run on Broadway in 2022 – culminating in the distinction of being the first Afghan artist to donate his instruments to the Museum of Broadway in New York City.
In 2019, he founded the Salar Nader Tabla Foundation, globally preserving Afghan cultural traditions through instruments and mentor scholarships, supported by Rhea Designs Inc. In March 2022, Salar curated "Nezam-e-Shams" at the Getty Museum, a collaboration between the Sounds of L.A. series and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Since 2023, Salar collaborates with the Leela Dance Collective dedicated to kathak, a classical dance from North India.
Salar has been a resident artist offering concerts, lectures, and masterclasses at Oberlin Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, Pomona College, and elsewhere.
In early 2025, Salar premiered and toured Zakir Hussain’s “Murmurs in Time” with Third Coast Percussion, for whom the piece was written. In an article titled “The Classical Music Our Critics Can’t Stop Thinking About,” the New York Times cited the “brilliant and moving performance that paid tribute to Hussain and the humanistic values at the heart of his art.”
His discography includes "Live in San Francisco Volume I" and "The Forgotten Empress," “In the Footsteps of Babur: Musical Encounters from the Lands of the Mughals,” and his collaborations with Grand Tapestry.
Salar continues his dedication to community engagement, workshops, and cross-cultural understanding.