1983 I was born at an ashram and named after the Vedic scholar, Shankaracharya.

1987 I was given a mridang and trained in the aural tradition of Hindustani music.

1988 I began accompanying chants and ceremonies. I was told that my role in the community was as a rhythmic leader, helping the community to connect.

1990 I was bullied at school for having an unusual name and began going by my middle name, Brian.

1993 My mother and I left the ashram and moved to Amherst, Massachusetts. For a year we slept in guest bedrooms, couches and dorm rooms. I bounced from school to school and had a challenging time adjusting.

1994 I began playing the drum set, which offered solace. It felt like a spaceship that was able to transport me anywhere that I desired.

1997 My mother and I relocated to New York. I auditioned for my high school jazz band and did not get in.

1998 I took a job at a local copy store to help pay for drum lessons. Musicians like Michael Brecker and Tim Ries frequented the shop and invited me to play sessions. I re-auditioned for high school jazz band; this time, I got in.

1999 I went to weekly jam sessions in New York City and the surrounding area, searching for collaborators.

2000 I studied with Billy Higgins at the Stanford Jazz Residency. He taught me how the drums could express story through rhythm.

2001 I left home to study improvisation and composition on scholarship at New England Conservatory in Boston.

2002 I wrote my first composition, Living within the Ocean.

2004 I began a collaboration with vocalist, Sunny Kim.

2005 I moved to New York City to pursue music. I said yes to virtually every gig that was offered to me.

2006 I took a job teaching percussion to foster children and children with special needs. I workshopped musical ideas which would later become A World of Percussion.

2008 I tracked down and connected with my father (whom I had never met) in Buenos Aires. I traveled to Argentina and presented my music throughout the country with pickup bands that I met on Myspace.

2010 I met my life partner, who opened my eyes to the beauty of movement.

2011 A colleague introduced me to Bash the Trash and I began performing environmental activism through music.

2012 I realized that many of gigs that I was saying yes to were not well aligned with the direction of my art.

2013 I started studying composition with Guillermo Klein and found myself getting clearer about my values. I started using my birth name, Shankar once again. I put a new group together and recorded Fourth Dimension.

2014 I began a collaboration with vocalist, Kamala Sankaram.

2015 I began working with composer, Liz Swados.

2016 My art yearned for a different perspective, calling me to step out in front of the ensemble to shape and conduct the music. I created the Human Time Machine.

2017 Inspired by the birth of my son, I composed Young Blood, a lullaby built around his heartbeats. The piece is part of my solo percussion album, For a Gallery on the Moon.

2020 Covid hit and freelance work dried up. My wife, son and I decided to move to Maine. I began teaching rhythm at Bates College and soon after joined the faculty at Bowdoin College.

2021 I began a collaboration with Mike Effenberger called Air Space. We recorded Cricket Cipher and performed with Jane Ira Bloom.

2022 I began touring with Ballet Hispanico.

2023 I began accepting commissions, writing pieces for Bates College Gamelan Orchestra, Fort Gorges, Palaver Strings, Rasa String Quartet and other ensembles.

2024 I enrolled in Vermont College of Fine Arts’ MFA Composition Program.