On Wednesday, April 11, the students of the World Drumming class performed to standing-room only crowd in their first ever concert, “Drums Gone Wild: An Evening of Drum Circle Exploration.”

The concert was led by music professor Yvonne Dechance.

With an overwhelming audience turnout, this concert was arguably the most popular recital of the semester.

“We actually had to add chairs to get all the audience seated,” says Dechance, “and many people have let me know how much they enjoyed this event.”

The night was a voyage through different drumming music from around the world, played by the World Drumming performance class.

The music ranged from Native American war chants to African tribal dances.

Students played on a variety of drumming instruments from different places around the world.

Mixed into the performance was a table full of other exotic percussion instruments.

Many of the performers were dressed for the occasion, sporting ethnic skirts and jewelry that added to the already colorful performance.

The audience played an active roll in this show.

Seated in a circle surrounding the performers, the audience sang, clapped and kept rhythm with the performers in many of the songs.

Sophomore Michele Wolding was one of the lucky selected to play in the center drum circle.

According to Wolding, “in a regular recital, if you don’t understand the music, you miss a lot of the meaning.

Here, every audience member could appreciate the experience, even if just on an entertainment level.”

Several pieces were composed by students, including “Chemiluminescence” by junior chemistry major Michelle Norako, “Death by Triplets” by the class’ star drummer Russell Williams and “Drum Magic” by freshman musical theater major Lyndsay Magid.

“I’ve been involved in music my whole life,” says Magid, “and the school has provided me the opportunity to enter a new world of music I might otherwise never explore.”

Freshman Brittney Rector finished the evening with a solo vocal performance of the African goodbye song, “Kwaheri.”

Overall, the University’s first World Drumming concert was a huge success.

Everyone shared a fun time, audience and performers alike.