Debashis Sinha’s creative output spans a broad range of genres and media, from solo audiovisual performance projects on the concert stage to the interior spaces between 2 headphones. Driven by a deep commitment to the primacy of sound, Sinha has developed his creative voice by weaving together his own experience as a 2nd generation south Asian Canadian, his training with master drummers from various world music traditions, a love of electronic and electroacoustic music and technology, and a desire to transcend the traditional expectations of how these streams might intersect and interact.
The wide range of media works and performances that Sinha undertakes are the result of an artist with a fierce desire to expand the notions of what it means to express and be influenced by a life in/between cultures. He has appeared as a solo artist at the Sound Symposium, ORF Kunstradio, Deutschlandradio Kultur, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Madrid Abierto, MUTEK, the Guelph Jazz Festival, Radio National Espana, and the International Symposium on Electronic Art, to name a few, and as a member of various musical ensembles across the country and internationally. Current information on his research into machine learning and sound can be found here.
Sinha’s continuing musical practice and re-interpretation of himself as an artist comfortable working in various media have allowed him to realize projects and performances from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Berlin, Germany. His unique take on the place of sound in storytelling places him in demand as an award winning composer and sound designer for theatre and contemporary dance, with long artistic relationships with choreographer Peggy Baker and a busy schedule with many of Toronto and Canada’s foremost theatre companies including Soulpepper, Why Not Theatre, The Stratford Festival, and others. His contributions as a composer for media have resulted in his being awarded the Louis Applebaum Composers Award in 2023.
He is a committed educator and has been leading sound design intensives and coaching, asynchronous video courses and guest lecturing at the undergraduate, graduate, high school and community levels across Canada and internationally. He is currently a tenure track assistant professor at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. Sinha continues to perform as a percussionist and electronic music artist on the concert stage both solo and with in ensemble on various projects.