Bethlehem, Pa., January 26, 2015- Elementary and Middle School Music education teachers in the area will visit Moravian College for a program featuring west African drumming on Saturday, January 31. The program will be held in Foy Hall on Moravian College’s Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus in Bethlehem, Pa. The program will be presented by composer, percussionist, and teaching artist Jeremy Cohen who founded ThisWorldMusic.
Participants will learn how to bring the joy and power of African drumming into their music classrooms. This workshop explores precision drum, bell and rattle technique; recitation of onomatopoeic drum "vocables;" and the singing of traditional West African songs. The various rhythms introduced range in difficulty, allowing teachers to differentiate instruction for your students. The workshop also covers Classroom management issues and how to recruit, equip and schedule African drumming classes and ensembles in a K-12 setting are also discussed.
Jeremy Cohen is a percussionist, composer and teaching artist who specializes in African drumming. He holds a B.A. in Music from U.C. Berkeley and a M.M. in Composition from NEC and studied traditional African drumming and dance in Ghana. Cohen directs the Study in Ghana, Africa program at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, as an adjunct professor in the Department of Music and Dance. Cohen was the music director at the Umana Middle School in East Boston, in 2007, and later in that year he founded ThisWorldMusic. Cohen is still active in the classroom, working with court-involved youth through the non-profit Unlocking the Light. He also sits on the Young Audiences Board of Directors and has consulted for The Center for Music National Service and The School District of Philadelphia.
The purpose of ThisWorldMusic is to provide cultural learning to various educational institutions as well as arts organizations. This workshop explores precision drum, bell and rattle technique; recitation of onomatopoeic drum “vocables;” and the singing of traditional West African songs. The various rhythms introduced range in difficulty, allowing for teachers to differentiate instruction for their students.
Clients and partners of this event include: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Boston Symphony Orchestra; The University of Massachusetts Amherst; New England Conservatory, The University School of Milwaukee, Citi Performing Arts Center and school districts nationwide.
The cost is $50. Moravian College student admission is free. Space is limited.
Moravian College encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have any questions about the physical access provided, please contact Moravian’s Joy Hirokawa at hirokawaj@moravian.edu or at 610-861-1671.
Moravian College is a private coeducational liberal arts college, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees, that is located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Tracing its founding to 1742, Moravian is recognized as America's sixth-oldest college and the first to educate women. The College emphasizes the deliberate integration of a broad-based liberal arts curriculum with hands-on learning experiences to prepare its 1,600 students, not just for jobs, but for successful careers. Moravian College excels at transforming good students into highly competent graduates who are ready to enter the workplace with confidence or shine in graduate school. Visit the Web site at www.moravian.edu.