Ramya Shankar & the Human Experience

Vocalist Ramya Shankar presents "The Human Experience," an immersive exploration of emotion and consciousness through the lens of Carnatic-jazz fusion. Known for her genre-blurring approach that flows from deep Indian classical roots into jazz and global music, Shankar crafts sonic landscapes that trace emotional stages—love, grief, courage, joy—using her voice as a vessel for healing and human connection.

This performance concept, described as "Emotion in a World of AI," invites audiences into an interactive vocal journey through lived emotional landscapes like anger, rejection, and relationships. Drawing from raga phrasing and cross-genre influences, Shankar's voice becomes a mirror of human behavior, revealing emotion through resonance with integral audience participation that encourages discovery and presence.

The ensemble features an exceptional cast of Bay Area musicians spanning multiple traditions. Saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan brings his unique fusion of Carnatic classical training under Dr. Kadri Gopalnath and jazz innovation—his expressive, vocalized saxophone sound reflecting both traditional depth and contemporary composition through his acclaimed trio VidyA. Bassist Peter Barshay contributes decades of experience from both NYC and Bay Area scenes, having collaborated with Kenny Barron, Freddie Hubbard, Pharoah Sanders, Joe Henderson, and Bobby McFerrin, with a sound that encompasses salsa, straight-ahead jazz, fusion, and Afro-Cuban traditions.

Mridangist Varun Pattabhiraman explores hybrid acoustic and electronic percussion setups incorporating khanjira, ghatam, konakkol, and drum pads, while pianist Unpil Baek—who performs with the joyful, genre-bending chamber jazz collective Vitamin Em—flows freely across jazz, classical, global, sacred, and experimental traditions. Adding an innovative dimension, biosignal researcher and composer Barbara Nerness incorporates heartbeat, brainwaves, and breath into her multichannel audiovisual experiences, bringing her PhD research in brain dynamics during musical improvisation to this consciousness-focused performance.

Trained for 25 years in both Carnatic classical music and jazz (including studies at California Jazz Conservatory and Stanford), Shankar is featured on the Grammy-nominated album Shayan and has reimagined works from Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" to 15th-century poems, always weaving storytelling and music into performances that celebrate what remains timeless in our AI-shaped world.