Brian Shankar Adler
Adjunct Lecturer in Music
Described as "a polyrhythmic force" (JazzTimes), multidisciplinary drummer, percussionist and composer Brian Shankar Adler transcends the terrain between genre and geographic region, asking: how can we find connection through rhythm? He has performed internationally in caves, forests and adjacent glacial ice fields as well as Carnegie Hall, Jazz Standard, Lincoln Center, Rubin Museum and The Stone. He has been recorded on over forty albums including his most recent works, For a Gallery on the Moon (Chant Records, 2020) and Fourth Dimension (Chant Records, 2019). His music video, Mantra won best music video at Transcinema International Film Festival in Peru and an official selection at Quiet City Film Festival in New York City. Adler has worked with Kinan Azmeh, Guillermo Klein, La Bomba De Tiempo, Frank London, Palaver Strings, Kamala Sankaram, Elizabeth Swados, among others and has been featured in Modern Drummer Magazine, DownBeat, and NPR. In 2013, he published A World of Percussion, connecting rhythm, language and environment through a study of shared musical concepts from around the globe. Adler is currently on faculties at Bates College, Bowdoin College and University of Maine (Augusta).