Sandro Shar

I'm a British-Georgian pianist and composer based in London. My musical journey began with classical piano at age four, evolving through jazz and expanding to multiple instruments including double bass, violin, guitar, vocals, and numerous traditional Georgian instruments. I'm most active as a pianist, particularly as a member of acclaimed modern jazz quintet Knats, and have performed and recorded with renowned artists including Geordie Greep and Eddie Chacon through multiple national tours and international appearances. Another significant part of my experience as a pianist is in the hospitality sector, where I've worked at prestigious establishments including The Savoy, The Dorchester, Heckfield Place Hotel, and Mayfair hotel.

My specialisation lies in Georgian traditional music, initially driven by a desire to retrace my heritage and weave it into my playing and writing. This led to alternative forms of music analysis, including musical geometry and Tonnetz theory, through which I have been researching the theoretical foundations and tuning system of Georgian polyphony, as well as its translation into contemporary musical vocabulary. I have presented this research at the Tbilisi Conservatoire, Oxford University, and the University of Manchester. These ideas inform my work across genres, from jazz performance to orchestral arranging and electronic production, where I often incorporate Georgian instruments and tuning. This academic exploration of traditional and folk music sparked a wider curiosity, leading to the creation of Ancestral Tones, a blog on Instagram, TikTok and Substack where I share stories, sounds, and reflections on traditional music from around the world, with an accumulated following of over 90,000.