NOTE: DRUM FOR CHANGE IS NOT A PERFORMANCE ENSEMBLE. The artist brings real instruments for every student. Class sizes are limited to 25 students so that EVERYONE has the opportunity to drum TOGETHER. Students learn the history, construction, and traditional uses of the djembe drum from West Africa. Even non-participants enjoy the learnings in a school-wide assembly on Friday. This program features a character-building component that highlights values important to indigenous cultures. Each song that we learn has a specific underlying moral, ethic, or principle like gratitude, unity, positivity, ritual, service to others, respect, balance, celebration, and connection to nature that serve as positive examples for healthy, happy lifestyles for modern society. Six 55-minute sessions/day Mon-Thu (allow for lunch). Fri AM review followed by school-wide performance (two 30-minute programs). Add-on sessions for special-needs, after-school programs, or faculty/staff stress busters available.
Artist Background
Greg Whitt has received three competitive Regional Artist Project Grants from United Arts, two for the study of folkloric music in the Caribbean and one to support specialized drumming in wellness settings. With a graduate certificate in Transformative Leadership from the Maryland University of Integrative Health, his programs are actually hands-on philosophy about how we can live, work, and play well together in community. Only they’re cleverly disguised as music. And they’re delivered as interactive and engaging fun. Working in corporations, congregations, communities and classrooms, Greg facilitates team building, education, and wellness programs using music as the metaphor for life in rhythm and harmony with one another and with the world around us.
Search Criteria
- Program Type: Workshop/Residency
- Discipline: Music
- Grade Level: Elementary, Middle
- Cultural Context: African, Caribbean
- Accepts bookings in Johnston County