Tomchess + Shane Shanahan

Spiral Music presents acoustic music every Wednesday evening at the base of the Museum’s spiral staircase. Artists who specialize in music from the Himalayas and South Asia are invited to forge a connection between their music and the art in the galleries.

About the Musicians

Tomchess (oud, ney) is a New York City”“based multi-instrumentalist, improviser, and composer who has performed and recorded with some of the most esteemed players in the improvisational scene (Dewey Redman, Butch Morris, Pharoah Sanders, Drew Gress, Ronald Shannon Jackson) as well as Moroccan sintirist Hassan Hakmoun. He has performed at notable venues around the world and in New York City including Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the United Nations, and the Turkish and Pakistani embassies. He has played on Grammy-nominated recordings and was awarded grants from the Turkish American Society and the Maryland Council for the Arts. In 2012 he was nominated for an Independent Music Award.

Cross-cultural percussionist Shane Shanahan has cultivated his own unique and highly sought-after sound by combining his studies of drumming traditions from around the world with his background in jazz, rock, and Western art music. In the summer of 2000, Shane was invited to Tanglewood, where he played an important role in the formation of the Silk Road Ensemble. Ever since, he has been touring around the globe performing side-by-side with Yo-Yo Ma as an original member of the award-winning group. He is also a member of frame drum master Glen Velez’ TaKaDiMi Ensemble and cellist Maya Beiser’s Provenance Project. Shane has been seen and heard on TV and radio throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, including appearances on David Letterman, Good Morning America, the National Geographic Channel, NPR, PBS, NHK, and the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics in Shanghai. He received his bachelor’s degree and prestigious Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music and his master’s degree from The Hartt School.