Sunny Jain (creator, dhol, drumset) has been called “One of the leading figures in North America’s burgeoning Asian music scene. A global musical alchemist and cultural agent provocateur” by Songlines (UK), Jain is a composer, drummer, dhol player, and thought leader. While growing up with a deep cultural connection to his South Asian heritage, Jain also fell in love with jazz music and prog rock. His eclectic musical upbringing has brought him to perform with percussion legends Mickey Hart & Zakir Hussain and Planet Drum, pop icons Ed Sheeran, David Byrne, Peter Gabriel, Norah Jones, Jon Batiste, and Italian Pop Star Jovanotti, to many jazz luminaries. He has been at the zeitgeist of America’s South Asian sounds for the past 2 decades. He founded and plays dhol in the pioneering Brooklyn band Red Baraat and has worked with some of the top South Asian artists out there (Arooj Aftab, Ali Sethi, DJ Rekha, Ganavya, Heems, Karsh Kale, Samita Sinha, Vijay Iyer, and Junoon). He was the music producer for Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding, The Musical and Music Director for the Obie award winning London show, The Jungle, as well as for Lincoln Center’s 60th anniversary celebration. Jain is 2025 Soho Repertory Theater commissioned artist.

Katie Pearl (director) is an Obie Award-winning theater maker who collaborates with artists across disciplines on generating new works of performance, often at the intersection of theater and social change. As Co-Artistic Director of the interdisciplinary company PearlDamour, Pearl develops and produces a range of works with playwright Lisa D’Amour, including How to Build a Forest, Milton, and most recently the theatrical senate chamber showdown Ocean Filibuster, commissioned by the American Repertory Theater with the Harvard University Center for the Environment. With support from NEA Our Town, Creative Capital, MAP Fund, and NEFA. PearlDamour’s ongoing project, Climate Sing, is a city-wide sing-a-long launch of 13 newly commissioned songs celebrating Planet Earth. Katie is also currently developing INDELIBLE with seminal lesbian performance artist Holly Hughes. She is an Associate Professor of Theater at Wesleyan University where she teaches directing, devising, and alternative theater-making practices.

Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew (lighting and projection design) is a multidisciplinary designer working across theater, dance, opera, musicals, music performance, art installation, immersive experiences, and digital productions. She is the recipient of an Obie Award for Sustained Achievement in lighting design. As a designer, Jeanette creates visual environments that are organically integrated into the landscape and language of each production. The New York Times has described her work as “clever” and “inventive.” She is excited to bring Sunny Jain’s Love Force to Symphony Space/Under the Radar and beyond. Jeanette is also collaborating with Canadian singer and writer Tanya Tagaq on Split Tooth, with composer and performer Paul Pinto on Mano a Mano, and on David Byrne’s immersive project, Theater of the Mind. Jeanette is an Arts Professor at NYU Tisch Drama. Instagram: @jeanette_yew | JeanetteYew.com

Courtney Gaston (lighting and projection design) is an Assistant Professor of Theater at Wesleyan University in Connecticut where they teach courses on lighting and media design. As a lighting, scenic, and media designer, their work focuses on integrating new technologies with live performance including motion-tracking and wearable lighting technology. Their research and design work has been featured at the Prague Quadrennial, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Live Design International, Critical Costume, and SheLA Arts Summer Theater Festival. Recent work includes the design of a large-scale, immersive, interactive installation at Wesleyan University titled An Oceanic Journey and designs for new works Westphalia by Helen Banner (Luna Stage, NJ) and You Must Wear a Hat by C. Meaker (TheaterLAB, NYC).

Kenien Spann (sound engineer) A native of the Upper West Side, Kenien is happy to be working with Love Force after mixing early runs as Joe’s Pub. Past Experiences include The Public Theater, Local One IATSE, and Meyer Sound Labs.

Mika Eubanks (costume consultant), a New York-based costume designer from Maryland, earned her MFA from Yale School of Drama and BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art. Her theater design credits include Twelfth Night (Yale Rep/Classical Theatre of Harlem), Metamorphoses (Folger Theatre), King Lear (St. Louis Shakespeare Festival), Lessons in Survival: 1971 (Vineyard Theatre), The XIXth (Old Globe), Flex (Lincoln Center Theater), and The Cotillion (TMTC/New Georges). In Film Mika designed for the short film Candace and the Hulu mini series Initiative 29, and most recently the feature film Souvenir. She has received the Connecticut Critic Circle Award, Audelco award, and a Helen Hayes nomination. mikaeubanks.com

Alison Shearer (alto saxophone) Called “a force on the rise” by JazzTimes magazine, Alison Shearer’s explosive career hits refresh on what it means to be a jazz saxophonist today. Shearer has performed across the US, Europe, Canada, and South Asia, both with her quartet and as a member of Red Baraat and Wild Wild East. She has performed with notable artists such as Kurt Elling, Nate Smith, Charlie Hunter, Ben Platt, Billy Porter, Kelly O’Hara, Jason Robert Brown, Josh Groban, and the wonderful Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Shearer’s first record, View From Above, was named top ten albums of the year by NPR Music in 2022, which led to a record deal with Pinch Records and a flurry of commissions; her second album In The Garden was released in 2025. ROCO Symphony in Houston Texas commissioned Shearer’s first orchestral work, a saxophone concerto based on the abstract artwork of her late father, acclaimed LIFE photojournalist, John Shearer, premiering at the opening of their 2026-2027 season.

Dave Adewumi (trumpet) is an award-winning trumpet player and composer recognized as one of the leading new voices in jazz. A graduate of the New England Conservatory and The Juilliard School, he became the first jazz trumpeter to receive the prestigious Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship in 2017. He went on to win 1st place at the 2019 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Competition, the 2024 ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award and Gregory Morris Composing Fellowship, and in 2025 received the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship. Adewumi has been voted a “Rising Star” in the DownBeat Critics Poll and performs on some of the world’s most celebrated stages including Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, and has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. His collaborations span a wide spectrum of artists, from Harry Connick Jr., Raye, Busta Rhymes, and Rick Ross to Mary Halvorson, Jason Moran, Ingrid Laubrock, and Dave Douglas.

Jasim Perales (trombone) is a trombonist from Oakland, California who started playing piano in the third grade, and trombone in the fourth grade, and was exposed to jazz while attending the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music Summer Program, under the tutelage of Dr. Angela Wellman. Jasim has played in various settings with esteemed professionals including Joshua Redman, Bob Mintzer, Robin Eubanks, Wynton Marsalis, Ted Nash, Terri Lyne Carrington, Reggie Workman, Bryan Carter, Common, Mary J. Blige, Cynthia Erivo, Billy Eichner, Tituss Burgess, the Mingus Big Band, the Son Jarocho Collective, SFJAZZ, The O'Jays, the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, NPR's Tiny Desk, Aberdeen, The Nychillharmonic, Sunny Jain, Red Baraat, the Dan Pugach nonet, the GRAMMY Award-winning Dan Pugach Big Band, Arturo O'Farril & The Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble, and the GRAMMY Award-winning Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. He is also an aspiring filmmaker, with his first short film, Jail Yard, now available on YouTube. He completed his Master's degree at The Juilliard School.

Julia Chen (keyboards, percussion) As a shy bespectacled child, Chen learned to rely on music to express her personality and connect with others in ways she couldn’t with words. Raised in Brooklyn by parents from Poland and China, she grew up learning music by ear before getting her Bachelors in Jazz Piano Performance from Oberlin College and Conservatory. She plays piano, keyboard, and synths with bands of all genres. Her first EP, “Silver Spoons,” was released in October of 2018 and in April 2020, her trio, Unspooling, released a self-titled album of original compositions and collaborative works. Currently Julia also performs with the all-female salsa band Lulada Club and Alex Asher’s Slow Motion.

Almog Sharvit (bass, percussion) Called “irrepressibly mischievous and highly skilled” (The Big Takeover), Almog Sharvit is a bassist and composer who is never content to stay too long in one mode. In New York, he has established himself as a creative force: his debut album Get Up or Cry has been called a “startlingly imaginative record” and “a masterpiece of syncopated sound” (Bass Magazine, Goldmine Magazine). In addition to his own project, Almog can be heard playing with his collective trio KADAWA, Sunny Jain's Wild Wild East, Forager, Ashni, Neta Elkayam, Ambrose Getz, NY Andalus Ensemble, The NYChillharmonic, Ella Mar, and many more.

Tabitha Davidson (assistant director/stage manager) is an emerging NYC-based stage manager and director. After recently graduating from Wesleyan University with a BA in Government and Theater with high honors (2025) she is excited to be joining the Love Force team for the second time. Recent credits include directing her senior thesis The Government Inspector, and stage managing Estate as part of New York Theater Festival. Next Up: Majestic 7 at Black Spectrum Theater Collective. Tabitha draws inspiration from the political world around us, and explores how we cope via the creation and enjoyment of theater.

Max Van (design associate and programmer) is in the pursuit of being a jack-of-all-trades, master of theater. He has worked on productions and concerts, serving various key roles as projection and sound designer. Recent credits include, Amahl and the Night Visitors (Lincoln Center Theater), Roadkills (Good Apples Collective), The Word of the Day (Classic Stage Company), Zoetrope (Caborca), cankersore paradise (Lenfest Columbia University), Left On Tenth (Broadway), cunnicularii (Good Apples Collective), and more. In his “free” time, he works as an Associate Production Coordinator for the annual synthetic-biology iGEM Grand Jamboree. For more, find him on his website @maxvan.work

Amanda Cooper/ALC Arts (producer) is an arts management, consulting, producing and booking company. After nearly 15 years of experience in the non-profit arts in NYC, Amanda started ALC to help independent artists and small companies bring their work to more audiences across the country, and to provide producing and administrative support throughout their process. ALC Arts specializes in multidisciplinary works that are experimental and accessible. She is so happy to be back at Symphony Space - the first place to give her a full-time job!