Summer Concert 2025
Join us in beautiful Zwick’s Park on the Bay of Quinte for our second annual summer gathering, showcasing the first annual Drum Summit.
All are welcome to bring a drum or percussion instrument, or to use one provided, as we celebrate rhythms that bring us together across all cultures.
At the event, you will experience a concert by Amara Kanté and the Koubara Foli Music Ensemble, and a workshop hosted by African Dance Ensemble, led by Isaac Akrong.
No previous expeience required – all ages and abilities welcome!
Limited drums provided (come early to ensure your spot!)
FEATURED ARTISTS
The Kouraba Foli Music Ensemble provides participants with rare access to experience authentic West African music and performing Arts programming from an ancestral perspective, that is both sacred and secular. The percussion and dance styles are West African, mainly from the Malinke people currently found throughout Guinea, Mali, Ivory Coast and other neighboring countries.
Amara Kanté is a world-renowned Master percussionist, Composer and Artistic Director of Kouraba Toronto Centre for Cultural Advancement. Amara identifies as a member of the Numu clan located in present day Guinea, Conakry. The Numu are the ancestral crafters of all the Djembe drum, percussive rhythm composers, and sacred knowledge keepers. He continues to represent the authentic culture, craft, and vast musical traditions of his people, to audiences around the world.
His repertoire of instruments include: Djembe drum, Kensedeni, Dunun drums, Talking-drum, Bolon, Krin, Bara and Congas. Recognized as a child musical prodigy, Amara has toured professionally since age 7. Through the rhythms he plays, he seeks to share this love of drumming, just as he was taught by the great percussion masters Mamadou Camara, Sékou ‘Cobra’ Camara, Mamady n’Toman Keita, Famadou Konate, Issa Balo, Soungalo Coulibaly and Mansa Camio.
Amara’s signature drumming power and sound can be heard on various recordings, soundtracks for film, and world music festivals. He has played with: Peter Gabriel, François Moity, Big Sugar, Mory Kanté, Kassé Mady Diabaté, Souleman Koli, and Judy Mowatt to name a few.
Dr. Isaac Nii Akrong, from Ghana founded the African Arts Institute, an educational organization on African Arts. He has taught African music and dance at York University, Wesleyan University, Swarthmore College, and many other schools and institutions. As a choreographer, master drummer, and artistic director, Isaac creates new works as well as maintains traditional music and dance through the African Dance Ensemble. Isaac founded the Humanity in Harmony festival, bringing together multidisciplinary artists, academics, and community in a celebration of common humanity through the arts. Isaac has a strong commitment to sharing his knowledge of traditional dance and drumming with the world. As a researcher, he is determined to see Ghanaian/African music and dance documented for future generations. Isaac’s work can be seen at www.isaacniiakrong.com, www.africanartsinstitute.com, and www.afridance.com.
African Dance Ensemble: Isaac Akrong founded the African Dance Ensemble (ADE) in 2001, in order to research and teach the roots of African traditional practice as an embodiment of social and ethnological phenomena. Group members practice dances from across the motherland of Africa. ADE (pronounced “AA-day”) is a Ga-Dangbe word signifying “telling,” “as told,” or “as said.” The experience of interaction between performers and the world is what tells (“ade”) our story. The purpose of ADE is the preservation of African music and dance, cultural understanding between peoples of different backgrounds, and sharing the “joy of Mama Africa” with the world.