Illustrious Tabla Maestro of Houston Passes Away

Dexter--obituary-in-1

HOUSTON: Dexter Raghunanan was a highly accomplished tabla player based in Houston, Texas. He was one of the most distinguished Indian Classical artistes to originate from Trinidad W.I. Dexter was originally from Mon Repos, San Fernando. He always had a great penchant toward percussion as a child. His paternal grandmother recognized his innate talent and passion for drums bought him his first pair of Tabla and subsequently encouraged him to learn Tabla formally. His musical journey began under the tutelage of Shri Tensing Ramlakhan. It was not long before Dexter became a sought after accompanist and performer in Trinidad and the rest of the region. He established his own tabla school that started off with just four students in a temple in south Trinidad, which soon expanded to a school of over two hundred. Dexter taught for several years as a Primary School teacher at Debe Primary school (at Standard 5 level) before migrating to the US.

Dexter’s love of tabla took him to the U.S. and Canada, where he accompanied many world-renowned artistes. In 2005 Dexter moved to Houston Texas where he began teaching tabla and performing extensively in the U.S. with Classical musicians, Ghazal singers, Dancers and Fusion artistes. The United States Congress recognized him in 2010 and most recently by the Mayor of Tulsa OK USA. On the January 15, 2014, Dexter represented Trinidad at a concert on the lawns of the Majestic Taj Mahal, featuring other world famous artistes such as Grammy award winner, Ustad Zakir Hussain.

Dexter, has been an outstanding cultural Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago to the Americans and by extension to the rest of the world. His selfless service as a music teacher to hundreds of aspiring musicians in Trinidad and abroad will not go un-noticed.