Meet Sylvain Paslier, French-American handpan enthusiast.
Sylvain was one of the lucky few to get a Hang in 2007 and continues to seek the simple joy of creating with handpans.
Nice to meet you!
Sylvain Paslier was born in Lyon, France in 1990 and moved to the United States in 2011.
It was through his cousin and friend, David Charrier, that Sylvain discovered this round metal instrument in 2005. At the time, there was only one manufacturer in the entire world: a small company called PANArt located in Switzerland. Their creation was called the Hang sound sculpture.
The original Hang was so rare it took Sylvain two years to find one. In 2007, the journey began. Musical jam sessions turned into bands such as Confiture de Hang, Keona and Wadhom. Sylvain traveled to HangOut UK in 2008 — the world's first Hang gathering. Life-long international friendships were made.
In the Springs of 2009 and 2010, Sylvain performed at the "Festival of Nations" in Tennessee (USA) playing 4 shows per day, 6 days per week over the 2-month-long event.
In 2015, Sylvain recorded a studio album, Carousel, that he likes to call the soundtrack of his life. It captures all the original songs that have accompanied Sylvain throughout his first years playing handpan. Several singles and collaborative tracks have also been released since.
In 2018, Sylvain picked up The Handpan Podcast. In each episode, he sits down with handpan makers and players to hear the transformation stories of people whose lives have intersected with handpans.
Sylvain Paslier is currently performing handpans on a global stage at the World Expo in Dubai as part of the Expo Music Department lead by Maestro Harout Fazlian. Originally postponed due to the pandemic, Dubai Expo 2020 will now run from October 1st 2021 through March 31st 2022.