Andrew Kim

Andrew Kim is a diverse multi-instrumentalist with 30 years of experience studying music from around the world. He is presently a full-time musical performer in Vancouver, BC. His music includes traditional Indian sitar, Indian styled violin, solo instrumental guitar compositions, as well as various Indian, African, and Japanese collaborative projects.  Presently he is actively touring with his world music fusion band Delhi 2 Dublin  (recipients of the western Canadian Music Award).

Performance History

Internationally:  Andrew was chosen to represent Canada as a musical ambassador to China where he performed in the Forbidden City, was paraded in front of hundreds of thousands of people, and was featured on the front page of the Beijing Times.  He has also toured Taiwan, Hong Kong, Berlin, and Dubai with Delhi 2 Dublin, performed on the sitar in South Africa with Womad artists Mondetta and has toured Thailand with the Sabai ensemble. 

Locally: Andrew has performed across Canada and the US at the Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Regina Folk Festivals, Vancouver Jazz Festival, Halifax Jazz Fest,Mission Folk Festival, Stan Rogers Fest, Bumbershoot, Stern Grove,  Shambhala, and the massive Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill (where he was personally greeted by the Prime Minister and Governor General of Canada.

Andrew has also performed in China and Canada with the famous Chinese superstar  Dadawa (the first chinese artist to sell over a million CD's outside of China), Kiran Ahluwalia, Debashish Bhattacharya, Stephen Fearing, Colin Linden, Arrested Development, Congotronix, Natacha Atlas, and Spearhead. 

His trio Dharmakasa has performed as the opening act for Anoushka Shankar (Ravi Shankar's daughter)-see picture on right panel. He has  also played in the opening acts for Kailash Kher, DJ Cheb i Sabbah, African superstar Johnny Klegg, and Japanese superstars Yoshida Brothers.  Andrew has also collaborated with singer Jully Black.

 In addition, Andrew performs regularly throughout the Indian community in temples and for weddings. He has also performed  extensively for elementary schools in BC.  Andrew has performed numerous times for the mayor, the Dalai Lama center, and was featured prominently on the CBC documentary "Cliche".  He was the Fairchild Radio featured artist of the month.

Recordings: Andrew's recordings have included 2 personal CD's, 5 music tracks for yoga videos, music for "My Cultural Divide" - a documentary on Bangladesh that was shown at major film festivals, and a sitar track on a CD by the famous entertainer Raffi. 

His band Delhi2Dublin has released 3 albums that all reached #1 on Canada's world music charts as well as #6 on the bhangra charts. In 2009 the band received the Western Canadian Music Award.

His other project Dharmakasa has released the CD "Between Worlds" that reached #6 on Canada's world music charts and has been extensively played on CBC.  ( this CD was produced by Andrew).

Musical training:

Andrew was trained on the sitar in Varanasi, India under Pandit Shiv Nath Mishra, as well as in Canada.  He has been awarded the prestigious Shastri Arts Fellowship to study sitar in India. He also received the silver medal from the Royal Conservatory of Music for cello.  Andrew is also very proficient on numerous styles of guitar (including African and solo instrumental).  He has also invented some very unique instruments including the 9 stringed violin, the Indian electric guitar, and the Moroccan hockey stick, and has the distinction of being the only person in the world who plays these amazing instruments.

Collaborations:

Andrew has performed/collaborated with many prominent artists including: 

-Delhi 2 Dublin

-Arrested Development

-Jully Black

-Dadawa

-Stephen Fearing and Colin Linden

-The African band Feso     

-Dharmakasa with Alcvin Ramos,a recognized grand master of the Japanese flute.

-An appearance with the famous group Spearhead

-Kiran Ahluwalia

-Natacha Atlas

-Ghazal accompaniment for Indian vocalists: Neeraja Aptika, Neetu Matheru, and Robinder Prasad.

-sitar recitals with local tabla players: Tarun Nayar,  Neelamjit Dhillon, Sonny Matheru, and Stephan Cihelka

-Bhangra bands Dal Dil Vog and Anaamika

-Tandava ensemble.

-Womad artists Mondetta (in South Africa)

-Kow Kanda (opening for South African superstar Johnny Klegg).

-Sabai ensemble (Thailand)

-Brave Waves ensemble (in China).

Press Coverage:

Andrew was featured on the CBC documentary "Cliche".  In addition, he has performed for CBC (over 20 times), Musique Plus, Indian television, Channel M, and has been featured in numerous newspapers including the Georgia straight, the Province, Vancouver Sun, the Beijing Times, India Times, and the Thailand National newspaper.

His Band Delhi 2 Dublin has received video play on Much Music.

He was the featured artist of the month for Fairchild Radio.

Contact: Andrew Kim can be contacted at (604) 524-8101 or (604) 782-1482 andrewkim87@hotmail.com.

Andrew is available for lessons on Indian classical sitar.

Andrew Kim's CD “The Journey” is available online at www.gopherp.com or in the new age section of various local music and bookstores.

Dharmakasa's CD "Between Worlds" is available online at cdbaby.com . Album requests can also be made to Andrew Kim personally.

Reviews:

"instrumentalist/ instrument maker/ mad scientist is the kind of eclectic genius who needs to be celebrated and has unlimited potential. Look for big things from them in the future. “ - Kulpreet Sasan  -  Review Vancouver ( Review of Anoushka Shankar performance)

"likely to please a wide variety of listeners" - Alex Varty - Georgia straight