Salil Subedi: Sound Healer, Nepal’s Pioneer Didgeridoo Player and Multidisciplinary Musician

Renowned for offering audiences an immersive experience of sound healing and participatory music, on the stage and intimate concerts, Salil Subedi masterfully does musical storytelling with a thoughtfully curated collection of instruments. In sound healing and sound-bath sessions, Salil brings in his rich experience working closely with pioneers of Himalayan Singing Bowl Sound healing masters of Nepal.

As the pioneering didgeridoo player of Nepal, his musical repertoire spans a diverse range of overtone music. His performances are enriched by improvised vocals that blend throat singing with Nepali folk styles, alongside the resonant sounds of an Italian-crafted hand pan, Himalayan singing bowls, and bamboo flutes. Salil also incorporates the haunting tones of the Romanian Fujara and a variety of other wind instruments such as the Chinese Hulusu, as well as hand-hammered jaw harps and murchunga from Austria, Russia, India, and Nepal. Adding further depth to his music are intricate percussive sound effects inspired from nature.

Salil’s talent has taken him on musical and artistic tours across Canada, Switzerland, Austria, UK, Spain, Singapore, Mongolia and China. From his current two bases in Nepal and India, he continues to inspire and connect with audiences worldwide.

Early Years

• Co-founded and served as the lead vocalist of the rock band Ionica.
• In the late 1990s, discovered the didgeridoo during a tour by the band Sirocco in Kathmandu.
• Made a life-changing decision from journalism to pursue the didgeridoo, becoming Nepal’s first professional didgeridoo player.
• Ensemble member of Nepal’s premier fusion music band Trikaal.

Collaborations with musicians/bands

• Bijaya Vaidya: Rock sitarist
• Rabin Lal Shrestha: Tabla legend
• Louis Bertignac: French legendary guitar hero
• Trikaal: Nepal’s premier fusion music ensemble
• Willi Grimm: Seniormost didgeridoo player of Switzerland
• Mark Atkins: International didgeridoo musician
• Cadenza: Nepal’s pioneer Jazz band, organiser of Jazzmandu and Drum Jatra
• Santa Ratna Shakya: Master singing bowl sound healing expert and maker
• Alberto Parmigiani: Handpan performer and percussionist

Some Live Performances

Didgeridoo (Yidaki) Sound Experience, a solo-live concert at the Patan Museum Courtyard with few invited guest artists and student players. A part of Salil Subedi springtime concert series. 3 May, 2024, Patan Museum, Lalitpur Kathmandu Nepal.

Zalon Arts 2023, 37-Year Anniversary SZALON!, Philadelphia (Virtual).

Live in Goa , 2022. A solo set of series on ‘Breath and Beat’ live performance. The concert titled Didgeridoo & Overtones Goa featured noted and respected Goan musician Allan Abreo.

Nirvana Sound Beijing Concert Series in 2023. Salil played healing music genre with the Himalayan Singing Bowl master Santa Ratna Shakya, Gong player Suresh Man Maharjan and the Italian musician Alberto Parmigiani in two concerts in Beijing. One concert, held inside the 13th century courtyard of the White Chaitya created by the historical Nepali artisan Aaraniko. The next was at the bustling part of the city in Beixinxiao, in a contemporary cultural centre.

Heavens and Earth Canadian music tour in 2019. It featured two sold-out concerts in Montreal (Espace Knox) and Toronto (Small World Music).

Drum Jatra music festival Opening act for two consecutive years (2021 and 2022) in Kathmandu.

Swizzeridoo featured at the Swizzeridoo – the Swiss didgeridoo festival, as a solo artist with 60 minutes set in 2008, 2017, and 2019. 

Moving Cultures Project: Three-week tour across Austria with the band Trikaal. This tour was supported by the Vienna Institute for Development and Cooperation (VIDC).

IUCN World Conservation Congress: performed in Barcelona in 2008. The event aimed to raise awareness about environmental conservation. It emphasized the need to protect our planet’s biodiversity.

Curated collection:

Album “Didgeridoo & Overtones“:

1. Breath and Beat is a live jam up with the didgeridoo and tabla at the studio. The two friends Salil and Navaraj Gurung meet up again musically and nail it in a single take!

2. The Ant Song features the rapid movement of the hardworking ants. This is portrayed by the twangs of the single reeded murchunga, didgeridoo and Madal. It focuses on the often less cared asset of biodiversity – the insects. Ants being one among them have inspired many philosophical, moral, social and cultural thoughts that our civilization is based on. 

3. Over the Tones is a treat of multilayered Overtone Throat Singing layered with the Tungna and Didgeridoo. This is the first music composition of its kind in Nepal. It is done by a Nepali musician performing overtone throat singing. This performance has a unique flavour of a new composition. 

4. Love Light is an alap sung by the classical vocalist, Sujata Verma. It features the multilayered drones of a low-keyed didgeridoo and tanpura. The musicians appeared early in the morning at the studios. The first light of the sun had just started reflecting its glitter on the nearby Bagmati river. This inspired the composition.

Notable Music Projects

• Trans Himalayan Cafe (2023): Curated playlist for the Rubin Museum for the exhibition Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now.
• Wake Up Song Project (2022) A call for environmental action song. With young artists from the Music House in Kirtipur. This labor of love was created using basic tools like smartphones and pictures curated over many years.
• The Valley of Light Project (2020) Collaboration between Nepali artists and the KM Music Conservatory of A.R. Rahman in Chennai, India.
• Mongolian Throat Singing Collaboration (2012) Collaborated with G. Nyamjanstan (now a member of The Hu Band) at Terelj National Park in Mongolia. 
• Apolda World Bell Concert (2007 and 2012) at Swayambhu Chaitya in Kathmandu. It also took place in Kirtipur and Patan with the bells and music of the Kathmandu valley. The event joined bell concerts from around the world. A global televised and casted event.
• Imagine Rainbow in Kathmandu, IRIK (2006) Co-produced a music and film project in Kathmandu. This was done with, Thomas Bertschi a Swiss artist. It occurred during politically turbulent times. Conducted professional music workshops for over one hundred children from refugee homes and shelter schools. They learned singing and musical instruments. They also painted Balinese Umbul Umbul flags as rainbow flags.

Musical Writings

• Himalayan Singing Bowl: Tuning the Mind, Healing the Body (2024). Editor. The Shakya Kasa Research Centre. 
• Representation of Nâd: Semiotics of Sound, Color, and Text (2006). Journal of Philosophy: A Cross-Disciplinary Inquiry, 2:5, 19-24. 
• Swoyambhu Method of Sound Healing (2019). A practical guide on the singing bowl method as practised by the Chiang Mai based Nepali sound healer Aman Shahi. 

Some Press Clippings

1. In the Presence of Art: The Rubin Museum (2023) https://rubinmuseum.org/spiral/in-the-presence-of-art/
2. Salil Subedi’s adventures in music, theatre and arts: Nepal Live Today (2021) https://www.nepallivetoday.com/2021/06/27/salil-subedis-adventures-in-music-theatre-and-arts/
3. Salil Subedi: Introducing Didgeridoo to Nepali Folk Music (2020) https://www.sbs.com.au/language/nepali/en/podcast-episode/salil-subedi-introducing-didgeridoo-to-nepali-folk-music/em1ay0sxw

Some Video Clips