I always had rhythm in my bones. I played music constantly by grinding my teeth (a habit I had to let go of as my enamel was getting wrecked!) and loved a drum circle! We had a drum kit in the house since I was 10 and I took my stabs at playing, but perfectionism had the best of me and I was too impatient to keep going through my mistakes. I was a drumming dilettante. 

Then I found the perfect instrument to usher me into a musical life, the handpan (aka Hang, Aka Pantam, aka hang drum…).  I first saw a handpan in person at Om shan tea house in San Francisco circa 2009. I was blown away and definitely almost overwhelmed by that experience. I filed it on the back of my mind and got on with life, as I was leaving shortly for a 6 month trek to India in a couple weeks. 

Cut to 2015 I was at Sunset campout and saw a magical being playing the hang at the Faerie Ring. Her name was Laura Inserra and I had the courage to go speak to her after her performance. We spoke and she told me she lived in Oakland as well, and she taught handpan lessons. 

In 2016, I started taking lessons and looking for an instrument that spoke to me. It took me a few months to find one. I felt that with the handpan, I could have fun quickly and have no fear - as long as I can keep a beat going it sounded pretty good!

I committed to stretching myself like never before, learning to play different patterns and rhythms, time signatures and paradiddles, as well as creating moods for relaxation and musical journeys. I learned to place rhythm on the body, to let the hands take over from the brain and to let go…

Playing became my main channel of creative expression and a huge source of the healing I was experiencing around the time. It grounded me in a new way and sharing what I was channeling would become a fundamental aspect of my growth as a musician. I started playing in sound bath events in 2018 and went back that same year to Sunset campout and performed at the same place I had found my teacher a few years prior. It felt like a true full circle!

I offer introductory lessons in the handpan so you can, just like I did, find out if this instrument is for you. I teach classes in person in the Temescal district of Oakland, CA. Feel free to book a discovery call if you’d like to know more (under coaching), or send me an email using the contact form.