Makana Kai Noah Medeiros is a percussionist active in classical and contemporary music and a dedicated educator for students of all ages.
Makana has appeared with ensembles and festivals including the Yale Percussion Group, The Percussion Collective, New Music New Haven, Blackbox Ensemble, Eastman Percussion Ensemble, Lake George Music Festival, Nief-Norf Summer Festival, and Chautauqua Festival Orchestra. He has collaborated with leading contemporary artists such as Pamela Z, Caroline Shaw, and Eighth Blackbird, and has performed internationally, including a TEDx-presented program of works by Alejandro Viñao and Garth Neustadter in Shenzhen, China with the Yale Percussion Group.

He has been a guest artist at the Next Festival of Emerging Artists and the inaugural ContemporArt Festival in Satu Mare, Romania, performing repertoire ranging from Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion to Thomas Meadowcroft’s Walkman Antiquarian. His chamber music performances have included appearances at the George Flynn Classical Concerts, Ely Center for Contemporary Art, and Hartford Symphony’s Sunday Serenades series with Leonid Sigal.
Known for his commitment to innovative repertoire, Makana has participated in peer-run ensembles such as Ossia New Music (Eastman School of Music) and held leadership roles in Versicolor New Music (Yale University), both dedicated to music of the last century. He has collaborated with composers to bring new works to audiences, including the world premiere of Harriet Steinke’s Marimba Concerto with the New Haven Civic Orchestra and the U.S. premiere of Matīss Čudars’s marimba solo relief. He was a featured clinician at the 2025 Percussive Arts Society Connecticut Day of Percussion, presenting works by Ivan Trevino, Alejandro Viñao, James Wood, and Andy Akiho.
Makana teaches in public high school music programs across Southern Connecticut and Northern Virginia, including serving as front ensemble and drumline instructor for Greyhound Percussion at Naugatuck High School. In fall 2025, he will join Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT, as Adjunct Professor of Percussion.
Makana holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, where he earned the Performer’s Certificate and Arts Leadership Certificate. He completed both a Master of Music and Master of Musical Arts at the Yale School of Music under the mentorship of Robert van Sice.