Navin Chettri is a percussionist, vocalist, composer and music educator. He is the manager of the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival/ACMS (Auditorium Chamber Music Series), a lecturer of music and the artistic director of the World Music Celebration at University of Idaho.

Chettri is also the founder and main creative mind behind the Kathmandu Jazz Festival (a.k.a. Jazzmandu) and the Drum Jatra Percussion Festival in Nepal.

His musical background and knowledge blend Western music, jazz and world music traditions. As a Hampton Scholar, Chettri received his undergraduate and master’s degrees in percussion performance and composition from the Lionel Hampton School of Music at University of Idaho. Chettri has since served as a professor of percussion at the university and has taught several lecture, studio and ensemble courses. In 2020, he also served as an instructor of jazz percussion at Washington State University - School of Music.

The leader of the Nepali Afro-Funk outfit Cadenza Collective, Chettri is considered a pioneer and driving force of the growing jazz scene in Nepal. Cadenza has six albums to date, showcasing a unique and constantly evolving style that pushes the boundaries of the mainstream. The band's latest album, "Himalayan Songlines," was released in October 2019 and was nominated in four categories for the Hits FM Music Awards, Nepal's top awards for popular music. A previous album, "Back To the Roots," was nominated in five categories for the 2014 Hits FM Music Awards, and won the awards for Best Pop/Rock Composition and Best Pop/Rock Album of the Year.

As a percussionist and vocalist, Chettri has studied various styles of music from Asia, West Africa, and both North and South Americas, and has traveled around the world performing at prestigious venues and festivals including the ELB Jazz Festival (Germany), Monterey Jazz Festival (USA), Palmer Street Jazz Festival (Australia), La Baiser Sale (Paris) and ShapeShifter Lab and Drom (NYC), as well as numerous other venues in Asia, Europe, Africa and the United States. He has also appeared as a panelist at the New Orleans Heritage Jazz Festival and has been on air on Ghana National TV.

Chettri has shared the stage with musicians from around the world including Jamie Baum, Magda Giannikou, Leni Stern, Beat Kasteli, Eduardo Mendonça, Catia Werneck, Jai Gandhi, Yacouba Sissoko, Yaite Ramos, Xiomara Laugart, Axel Tosca, Yunior Terry, Tito Puente Jr., Remi Abraham, Don Burrows, Mike Del Ferro and Jesse Van Ruller, to name just a few.

His work with Jamie Baum, a top flutist based in NYC, is featured on her CD “Bridges," released with Sunny Side Records in 2018. Baum and Chettri's performance together at the Monterey Jazz Festival was received with great enthusiasm by both critics and the audience. His other collaborations with NYC-based musicians “Goonj,” an eight-piece ensemble that combines elements of Nepali folk and classical music with jazz sensibilities, and “NepaMali," a project with the Swiss pianist and composer Manu Koch.

Chettri's latest projects include “Tabla Forro”, a blend of Forro music from Brazil with North Indian tabla techniques and Brazilian rhythmic sensibilities. Another project, initiated in 2020 is “The Himalayan Duo,” a unique initiative incorporating jazz drumming and Indian rhythmic elements with the sounds of the sitar.