| Festival
Features Music from Elsewhere
Drummers
Tony Vacca (right) and Steve Leicach with a few of their
instruments |
Music from around the world will
be celebrated and shared this Saturday, Nov. 11, during the
World Music Festival, an International Students Organization
event.
The festival will feature concurrent
workshops on hand-drumming, composition, and dance during
the day, culminating in an evening concert by high-energy
percussionist Tony Vacca and friends.
Vacca, who recently performed
with his World Rhythms Ensemble for the Senegal-America Project
at the Academy of Music, has shepherded the electrifying Senegalese
band Gokh-Bi System in bringing music from the African country
to America.
Vacca will join members of his
group in leading workshops during the day.
“We think that a concert
such as this is an opportunity to experience a fusion of world
music, as well as to learn about how instruments and musical
forms travel and cross-influence cultures,” said Hyun
Jung Kim ’08, an event organizer.
The workshops are open to all
in the Smith community, free of charge. The 8 p.m. concert
is also free and open to the public.
The World Music Festival schedule
is as follows:
John M. Greeme Hall
Multi-Culti Rhythm Ensemble with Tony Vacca.
In this hands-on session, participants will learn to play
a percussion composition, with instruments such as the djembe
drum, balafon, tuned bells, shekere, talking drum, gongs and
drum set. All skill levels are welcome. By virtue of the instrumentation
and the sensibility of the composition, this workshop is equally
about the phenomenon of World Music, as it is about developing
an awareness of our interconnectedness to the world around
us.
Davis Ballroom
Hand drumming techniques with Steve Leicach.
A masterful drummer and teacher, Leicach is an accomplished
performer on the djembe, conga, balafon, tama drum and others.
His focus in this workshop is hand drumming techniques and
the music of hand drumming. All skill levels welcome.
Weinstein Auditorium, Wright
Hall
Drum and bass and more with Derrik Jordan
and Joe Sallins. This workshop will shift between demonstration
and participation, using the many and varied instruments these
musicians play to combine sounds, knowledge, and imagination
to create music.
John M. Greene Hall
The World Rhythms Ensemble, a group demonstration
of World Music. In this workshop session the entire
band, led by Vacca, will take apart a composition to show
how it was created, how the cues work to begin or end sections,
and what makes it World Music.
Davis Ballroom
Traditional West African Drum and Dance with
Backa Niang and Abdou Sarr of Senegal. This workshop is all
about being in the music through drumming and movement. The
story that is told in sound and motion is also an illustration
of the people and culture from which it comes. The focus is
Senegal.
John M. Greene Hall
Concert: Tony Vacca and the World Rhythms Ensemble
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