All Grade Levels through College, Music, Teaching & Workshop experience
DISCIPLINE // Music
ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION // Drum Brothers present high energy performances that celebrate a diverse mix of world instruments and sounds: West African djembe and dunun drums, Middle Eastern frame drums, Australian didgeridoo, close harmony vocals, acoustic guitar, flute, saxophone, and original arrangements and compositions. They’ve performed at numerous venues throughout the Northwest and Canada, have been a featured act at the Seattle World Percussion Festival, and have shared the stage with Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Drum Brothers have been at the forefront of the American hand drumming movement since it began in the early 1990s. Over the years, they have offered numerous school and community rhythm workshops, drum circles, and more recently, interactive team building events for organizations and community groups. The ensemble is comprised of Matthew and Michael Marsolek, Lawrence Duncan, Colin Ruggiero, and Tracy Topp.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION // Over the years, Drum Brothers has presented school residencies, workshops, teacher trainings, and afterschool classes in many communities around Montana and the Northwest. We have 35 demonstration drums available for use in hands-on rhythm classes and we’re happy to provide study guides and additional back ground material for further study and exploration. When we travel to other communities, we’ll often schedule workshops for children in conjunction with school assemblies and a community concert. And if we have the opportunity to work with the same group of students for 3 or more sessions, we can feature a performance by those children at a school assembly or community event.
Training: We’re available to present teacher training in hand drumming pedagogy, drum circle facilitation, and African dance, and we can also present teacher in-service sessions on rhythm awareness, African drumming, and group music-making. Drum Brothers also offer team building events for groups and organizations (see attached).
GRADE LEVELS // K – College
CONTACT INFORMATION // Email / Website