XUMANTRA is the creation of Marco Dolce, a musician, composer, teacher, producer, sacred sound practitioner, sound healer, and sonic explorer. He is also a dedicated herbalist, organic grower, and naturalist. He is an accomplished musician and composer with decades of recording and performing experience, as well as decades of study in: music theory; jazz and classical guitar; world rhythmic and spiritual music traditions; sound healing and the metaphysics of sound; and world religions and spiritual traditions; including studies in Tibetan Buddhism and Native American shamanism. Marco studied Music theory and jazz improvisation at Rutgers University, and Afro-Cuban percussion at Drummer's Collective in New York City. Marco pursues the practice and study of sacred sound - the use of sound as a medium for healing and spiritual evolution. He created XUMANTRA as a vehicle for new music using instruments from the world's sacred sound traditions, most notably, Tibetan singing bowls and gongs. Along the way on his sonic and musical quest, Marco has assembled an impressive collection of bowls, bells, gongs, drums, percussion, and strings from exotic traditions that he uses in the XUMANTRA project. His work with these instruments represents a fusion of the musical and spiritual paths.