Ken Shorley
Middle Eastern and Indian Percussion

Ken has studied with a variety of well-known instructors, including South Indian master drummer/composer Trichy Sankaran. As a freelance percussionist, Ken has performed with many well-known individuals and ensembles. He has recently appeared as a guest with Indo-jazz fusion group autorickshaw, the traditional Quebecois group Matapat, and the Ottawa-based Indian folk ensemble Galitcha. An active composer, he has received grants from the Nova Scotia Arts Council, in support of his compositions for string quartet and, most recently, for world drum ensemble. Ken has been featured at the Atlantic Jazz Festival, on CBC Radio, and at the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival. He has two recordings to his credit: Nonagon, a multi-layered drumming album (2002), and Waterwheel, a world-jazz CD featuring percussion, saxophone and cello (1999). Since 1998, Ken has been an instructor with Acadia University’s school of music, where he teaches world music and hand drumming. Ken has produced two instructional hand drumming DVD’s – Time Zone (2005) with Amercian frame drum specialist Marla Leigh, and Exploring the Drum (2006).