Feb 28 2026 to Feb 28 2026 midnight

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

Sound hits your eardrums. Percussion resonates through your entire body.

Percussionist Rahul Vanamali starts there. He walks you through two instruments: the vibraphone and the snare drum. Their histories and techniques. Then works that have never been performed in India. Pieces that pull sounds you didn’t know these instruments could make.

Then he hands you the sticks.

You’ll feel how a whisper-touch on a drum head creates depth. How striking the same bar in different spots shifts the tone. Sound, yes. But also vibration traveling up your arms, the hum settling in your ribs. After that, the room plays together. Rahul has arranged ensemble passages that work even if you’ve never held a mallet before. Sync with strangers into a rhythm you can feel in the floor.

Rahul spent years discovering these instruments, jolted by wonder when sound became something physical. It is your turn now!

Please Note: Limited to 20 participants per session.

Session Schedule:
11am – 12noon
12:30pm – 1:30pm
2:30pm – 3:30pm
4:30pm – 5:30pm

Part of Pravāha 2026, The Body As Space: A Journey Through The Senses. This year’s festival is built around what we hear, smell, touch, taste, and see. Eight days of multisensory experiences through classical music, contemporary dance, installations, and conversations.

Presented by:

Artist

Rahul Vanamali
Percussionist & Educator
Rahul Vanamali is a Chennai-based percussionist who has been active as a performer for over fifteen years. He graduated with a Diploma in Percussion Performance from KM Music Conservatory in 2019, before completing a Bachelor of Music in Orchestral Percussion Performance at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University, Montréal, in 2022. Specialising in mallet percussion and drum set, Rahul is among the very few mallet percussion specialists in India, having debuted these instruments in diverse musical contexts at major venues including the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) and the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) in Mumbai.

He has performed as a classical percussionist with orchestras and contemporary ensembles in India and Canada, including the McGill Symphony Orchestra, and has collaborated with leading musicians such as A. R. Rahman and Louiz Banks. Deeply committed to expanding the presence of Western classical and contemporary percussion in India, Rahul has premiered several works for Indian audiences, including the 2025 Chennai performance Many Studies, One Summary, which featured modern solo percussion repertoire presented in the country for the first time. He performs regularly with ensembles such as the Indian Choral Ensemble, Pradeep Kumar, and the Tamil Jazz Collective, and is the founder and president of the India Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS). Rahul is also a dedicated educator and currently serves as percussion faculty at the Sunshine Orchestra, an initiative of the A. R. Rahman Foundation.