Known for his innovative melding of musical styles and traditions, percussionist and composer Shane Shanahan has fused his studies of Middle-Eastern, Indian and African drumming traditions with his background in jazz, rock and Western classical music to create his own distinctive style. For 20 years he has toured around the globe performing with Yo-Yo Ma as a founding member of the genre-defying, Grammy-winning Silkroad Ensemble. Shane has performed and/or recorded with such artists as: Bobby McFerrin, Aretha Franklin, James Taylor, Philip Glass, Chaka Khan, Bill Frisell, Amjad Ali Khan, Toumani Diabate, Alison Krauss, and Glen Velez, among others. He has also released two albums of his original music for global chamber ensemble. A strong believer in the transformative power of education, Shane frequently presents workshops and clinics at the world’s leading universities and conservatories, including The Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, Princeton, Harvard, and Cornell and collaborates regularly with the dance, yoga, theater communities in NYC.
