Percussion Workshop with Sunny Jain

Sunny Jain is a celebrated percussionist, composer, and band leader, best known for founding Red Baraat, a high-energy band that brings together bhangra, hip-hop, jazz, and rock. In this participatory workshop for drummers and percussionists, Sunny will introduce the South Asian rhythms. Participants will learn about Bols (syllables of North Indian drumming), improvisation, and the role of dance in Punjabi music. UVMC will provide instruments as needed, but please bring along a drum if you have your own (all type are welcome). Some percussion experience is encouraged. This workshop is presented in conjunction with his Hopkins Center performances April 14-16. The career of Sunny Jain is a celebration of cultural diaspora: deep-rooted tradition that ripples outward, changing—and being changed by—the cultures that it touches. He is a composer, drummer, dhol player and thought leader. Jain recently created his theatrical music memoir, Love Force, developed as an Artist-In-Residence and Visiting Scholar at Wesleyan University; and has been announced as a 2025 commissioned artist by NYC cultural pillar Soho Rep. His band and same-named album Wild Wild East (Smithsonian Folkways) has performed across the country to acclaim, and can be found on the NPR Tiny Desk Concert series, along with his seminal global party band, Red Baraat. He also joined Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding, The Musical, as Music Producer, and was the Music Director for The Jungle and for Lincoln Center’s 60th anniversary celebration.