On April 9th and
10th in Melbourne, Australia, a spirited
"Autumn Drum Retreat" will
feature a weekend intensive for all
African music lovers: there will be
two non-stop classes, one for beginners
and one for intermediate-advanced
students, drumming, dancing, singing,
and immersion in West African culture,
set within the natural beauties of
the Angahook State Forest. The band,
"Couscous", whose sound
features West African-infused global
rhythms, will be featured. This event
is being hosted by Simon Fraser and
his VoyeuRhythmic Center for West
African Music and Culture (www.africandrumming.com.au).
This center features an exciting array
of drumming, dancing, and music classes,
tours, events, and merchandise, including
drums and musical instruments, CDs,
African crafts, and books. There are
corporate and school programs, tutorials,
tours to Africa where drum and dance
masters from Ghana and Burkina Faso
give workshops, and special events
and performances in Australia by the
Wala Ensemble (Ghana) and other West
Africans.
Simon Fraser, founder of VoyeuRhythmic,
has spent the past seven years studying,
performing, recording, and teaching
in West Africa and Australia. He has
had a wide variety of artistic experiences--with
The Senegalese Ballet (specializing
in the "Talking Drum"),
Percussion de Guinea, Mali Ballet,
Ghana's Kusun Ensemble and Wala Ensemble,
master griot-musicians of Ghana and
Burkina Faso, members of the Ghana
National Theater--and as a result
has formed Ekome Tours, meaning "One"
or "Unity" in the Ga language
(a Ghanaian dialect), to provide the
same opportunity to others. His friend
and partner in this collaboration,
the Ghanaian musician Tuza--lead percussionist
in Wala--has been a master drummer
with both the Kusun and Wala ensembles,
and is also a teacher.
For more on this inspiring Autumn
Drum Retreat see the website, and
contact Simon at frazeeboy@bigpond.com.
Join other participants for an incomparable
creative experience, and make a difference
with music "Down Under"!
See
the Event page...
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