The Robert & Pearl Seymour Center is drumming up excitement for the new year. Beginning this year, the Seymour Center will be hosting a Congolese drumming class.
This will be an introductory class geared toward how to use the drums and appreciating Congolese music in general. The class is taught by Dr. Kenneth Wilson, who has been involved in the Congolese drumming scene in the Triad for many years. Wilson was drawn to Congolese drumming from the instant he heard it.
“It was just so incredible that I wanted to play it," Wilson said. "That was about 1980, and I’ve been playing it ever since."
Congolese drumming is similar to West African and Afro-Cuban drumming but involves more guttural sounds, Wilson said. He also emphasized how influential Congolese drumming is for every other music style throughout the world.
The class will feature the Ngoma, a drum that goes hand-in-hand with the Congolese drumming style that produces a low and deep sound.
“I decided it would be nice to pass the rhythms on as there’s so few people who know them in the area,” Wilson said.
This is the first time the Seymour Center has offered a such a class. When Wilson reached out to Programs and Operations Manager Cydnee Sims offering to teach a class at the Seymour Center, she jumped at the opportunity.
“I have noticed that the thing that really unifies everyone has been music," Sims said. "It’s like its own language that brings everyone from different cultures at the center together.”
Sims emphasized that because drumming doesn't require a language to understand, it's a good way to overcome the barriers that exist in the multi-ethnic Seymour Center.
