Marcel Menard
Percussion, vocals

Marcel brings all the urban energy and inspiration of growing up in Los Angeles, Ca to his music. Marcel was born in Hollywood, Ca and studied music and art at the L.A. Co High School for Arts and continued to explore the world of art and music after moving to Santa Cruz, Ca in 1991 where he graduated from UCSC with a bachelor of fine arts.

A founding member of SambaDá, Marcel has spent over 12 years dedicated to increasing his knowledge of the musics of the African diaspora, with a focus on Brazilian percussion. Marcel has immersed himself in Brazilian culture by studying and traveling in Brazil as well as being involved in the San Francisco and Monterey bay area community of master musicians and dancers. Marcel has studied Capoeira, Afro-Brazilian martial art with Mestre Papiba and has performed with SambaDá across the globe with the honor of sharing the stage with many world class musicians over the years.

As well as performing music, Marcel has been painting, drawing and sculpting since he was 3 yrs old and has been the main artistic designer for all of SambaDá graphics and website. Marcel adds a tremendous amount to SambaDá with his boundless enthusiasm and hard work, percussion and vocals and his positive spirit. It is Marcel's dream that we all come together and honor and celebrate each other's differences and create a peaceful world full of LOVE!