Ensembles come together to perform evening of West African drum music April 19

Ensembles come together to perform evening of West African drum music April 19April 05, 2007Jaime Winne Alvarezjlwinne@syr.edu

The newly formed African Drumming Ensemble at Syracuse University, the Danforth Middle School African Dance and Drumming Ensemble and the New York-based Brandon Rosser Ensemble will come together April 19 to perform an evening of West African drum music. The performance will take place at the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company’s Black Box Theater, 805 E. Genesee St., at 7 p.m. It is free and open to the public. The ensembles will perform together, illustrating multigenerational learning, and will be dramatically presented in one of the newest jewels on the Connective Corridor.

The African Drumming Ensemble at SU is jointly led by William (Bill) Cole, professor in the Department of African American Studies in The College of Arts and Sciences, and Biboti Ouikahilo, a native of the Ivory Coast and founder of Syracuse’s Wacheva Cultural Arts West African Dance, Drum and Mask Ensemble. Ouikahilo also co-leads the Danforth Middle School African Dance and Drumming Ensemble with Danforth music teacher Carin Reeve-Larham.

New York-based artist and educator Brandon Rosser is a specialist in Afrikan/African Diaspora spiritual culture, with a specialty in the traditional sacred Anya drums of the Yoruba. He is noted for his Metropolitan Museum of Art commission and documentary film on the sacred Yoruba/Lukumi Bata drums and bells, part of the Met’s permanent exhibit on African drums. He performs frequently in the New York City area. Rosser is an adjunct faculty member in the African American Studies Department at the New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn.

The event is sponsored by the Partnership for Better Education, the Department of African American Studies in The College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the Dean in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

For more information, contact Eileen Strempel, performing arts coordinator for the Partnership for Better Education, at strempel@syr.edu or 443-5036.