Ivan of Serbo-Croatian descent was born in Belgrade, Serbia. He spent the first eight years of his childhood in the plains of central Turkey after which he moved back to Serbia, both the crossroads of Eastern and Western Cultures. Throughout the years, Ivan has traveled extensively in pursuit of artistic inspiration. Since moving to Vancouver, he formed Tambura Rasa with the aim of expanding the boundaries of world-fusion music.
Ivan’s artistic inclinations have taken him into various directions: he has produced many electronic mixes some of which have regular rotation on radio charts around the world; he has organized many musical workshops one of which was the “Vancouver Jam Camp”; he has also written a book on social dynamics and conflict resolution called “The Mindful Connection Method”. Ivan maintains an active blog on these topics, offers life coaching, workshops and organizes educational speaker series thorugh the "Yes to Connection" organization.

Michael started playing the violin at age 4 and by age 9, he was already smitten with the old jazz standards, particularly with the raunchy fiddling of his idol, Stuff Smith. In 2001, Mi- chael was the recipient of a British Columbia Entertainment Hall of Fame Foundation Scholarship in recognition of his “demonstrated talent, dedication and future potential in the field of music.”

John plays a variety of styles for several local acts. Playing both upright and electric bass has helped him get opportuni- ties to work with projects like Radiogram (recording two al- bums and touring), Mary Ancheta (local shows and recording upcoming album), Sweatshop Union (recording for their third album), Transientworld (recording various tracks) and others, as well as some time playing with the Fraser Valley Symphony while he was studying classically with Ann Stafford.

Trevor received his Bachelor of Music in classical per- cussion from Mount Allison Universtiy (New Brunswick) in 1992 and studied Jazz at St. Francis Xavier University (Nova Scotia) in 1993. During this time he was selected to play in the Band of the Ceremonial Guard in Ottawa in the Summer. Since relocating to Vancouver in fall 1993, he has explored many musical styles from rock to jazz, funk, world and electronica and has played, toured and recorded with many artists He teaches drums regularly.

Robin has performed across China, the U.S. and Canada at jazz and folk festivals. He is a founding member of Jarimba, an Afro-Funk Collective. . As an educator, he loves sharing his passion for music and rhythm with children of all ages and can be found teaching workshops around B.C and touring the school districts. He is on the faculty of the Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach Program, where he teaches mallets and percussion, and the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts where he accompanies dance. Robin is a graduate of the L.A. Music Academy and V.C.C. School of Music. His love for world music has taken him to Cuba where he studied with the Folclorico Nacional Ballet Cutumba.