Engagements
We build partnerships with music schools and academies across the Americas—including Cuba, Colombia, Uruguay, and Saint Martin—to explore the music, festivals, celebrations, and stories of Afro-descendant communities. By collaborating with musicians, educators, ethnomusicologists, and linguists, we seek to explore, document, and promote the living evolution of culture rooted in the African Diaspora throughout the Americas.
The Beat is the History Workshop
An immersive, story-driven engagement that introduces participants to the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the music we know today. This workshop examines both well-known and hidden perspectives, sharing stories that trace the evolution of sound across time and place. We explore how geography—mountains, seas, rivers, and the natural world—influences the creation of instruments, rhythms, and traditions. Participants gain insight into the historical confluence of European harmonies, African polyrhythms, and Indigenous/Native influences, uncovering how they merged to form the diverse musical traditions known today as the Music of the Americas.
Grow Your Own Music Workshop (Kids and Youth Focused)
In this hands-on workshop, participants explore the fundamentals of polyrhythm by playing essential rhythmic patterns such as 3:2 and 4:3. A key feature of this experience is crafting DIY musical instruments inspired by traditions from across the African Diaspora. Using natural materials—gourds, bamboo, vines, nuts, seeds, shells, pods, hides—and repurposed or recycled items like bottles, cans, utensils, beads, and string, participants create their own instruments. The workshop concludes with a collective jam session where everyone plays their handcrafted instruments alongside percussion rhythms. Often, this culminates in an impromptu comparsa (parade), celebrating community and creativity.
Deconstruct Your Music Workshop
This workshop uses technology and the FADR method to break down songs from a range of genres—Pop, Salsa, Rock, Cumbia, Mambo, Disco, Funk, Festejo, Go-Go, and more. Participants analyze the layers of instruments, vocals, and beats to uncover how polyrhythms shape the emotional core and intent of the music. We explore the role of tempo, syncopation, and rhythmic cycles like 3:2, 4:3, and 16:9, revealing how subtle shifts in rhythm convey messages that go beyond melody and lyrics. This deep dive connects participants to the heartbeat and cultural context behind the sounds they know and love.