ABOUT
"Their presence on stage is both musically and visually stunning."
- Jessica Balik, SF Classical Voice
Prism Percussion, a San Francisco based percussion duo, was founded in 2018 by Divesh Karamchandani and Elizabeth Hall. Prism Percussion explores the expressive colors of percussive sounds utilizing non-standard instruments and seeks to champion works by Black, Indigenious, People of Color, Women, and Queer composers. Their presence on stage is "both musically and visually stunning" affirms Jessica Balik of San Francisco Classical Voice. Karamchandani and Hall's mutual passion for percussion chamber music and collaborating with composers and other musicians led them to create this duo. They enjoy fostering the creation of new works and commissioned three new works by local composers in their first year as a duo.
Karamchandani and Hall met at the Zeltsman Marimba Festival in 2011 and bonded over their love of the marimba. Their friendship grew and their paths crossed again when they both moved to San Francisco to attend the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for their masters degrees. They performed together professionally with diverse groups and concerts including Mercury Soul, One Found Sound, The Hot Air Music Festival, Post:Ballet, Calvary Choir, Golden Gate Symphony, and Cantare Con Vivo and are looking forward to continuing their creative collaboration with other artists.
Elizabeth Hall
Elizabeth Hall is a San Francisco based percussionist and vocalist. She is enthusiastic about chamber music and contemporary music and has played with many groups including San Francisco Opera, Santa Cruz Symphony, One Found Sound, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and Adesso Ensemble. Elizabeth also regularly plays with and has recently recorded an album with Americana duo, Gutter Swan. She can also be seen playing cajon and singing with the North Beach Ramblers. She began her journey at Heidelberg University and received her Bachelor's degree from Bowling Green State University and her Master's degree from the SF Conservatory of Music and has studied with Jack Van Geem, Trey Wyatt, Roger Schupp, Isabelle Huang, and Bill Bleyle.
Divesh Karamchandani
Divesh Karamchandani is the Principal Percussionist of Opera Modesto and One Found Sound, a SF conductorless chamber orchestra. Karamchandani's other notable performances include New Century Chamber Orchestra, Stockton Symphony, Monterey Symphony, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, San Francisco Symphony and Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera. Karamchandani is a Marimba One Educational Artist teaching privately at The Den Collective and is a percussion coach with the San Francisco Symphony's Music and Mentors program. He is also on faculty at West Valley College. Karamchandani holds a Bachelors of Music from CSU Stanislaus, and a Masters from the SF Conservatory of Music. He studied under the tutelage of Jack Van Geem, Jacob Nissly, James Lee Wyatt III, Chris Woodham and Allen Brown.