Michaelle Goerlitz has been playing drums and percussion since she was eight years old. After attending college in the Midwest, she moved to San Francisco in 1980 to continue her studies, which have led to exploration of Brazilian, Afro Cuban, Venezuelan, and Middle Eastern rhythms (plus American idioms jazz, R & B & funk). She[…]
Judy Graboyes began studying timbales and other latin percussion instruments in 1977 with Carlos Federico, a Bay Area treasure. She played with Orchesta Sabrocita, an all women’s salsa band from 1978 to 1981, when she spent the summer in Amsterdam playing with Estaire Godinez and Nippy Noya. Since that time, she has played with various[…]
Odilia Galván Rodríguez is an internationally recognized poet, writer, journalist, editor, teacher, and activist who has traveled extensively. She has three books of poetry and her work has been published in numerous literary journals and anthologies. Her most recent book, Migratory Birds: New and Noted Poems, is about her many journeys the physical as well[…]
Las Bomberas De La Bahia was founded in April 2007 and is the Bay Area’s first & only all-women’s Bomba ensemble. The group is composed of Bay Area activists, educators, and artists who actively contribute to growing the tradition of Bomba and work to maintain & support Puerto Rico’s oldest African influenced music and dance[…]
Mar Stevens, drum warrior, began studying West African drumming ten years ago with Master Drummer Afia Walking Tree of Spirit Drumz and became her apprentice. In 2008 Mar traveled to Guinea, Africa to attend the Fore-Fote Drum and Dance Camp. Under the tutelage of Master Drummers and dancers she continued her drum education and learned[…]
Judy is nationally and internationally known for her extraordinary talents, exceptional skill, and generous, joyful spirit as performer, educator, music therapist, and workshop presenter. After 35 years exploring music as an expressive art and therapeutic healing tool, she continues to study and be inspired by sound traditions from various world cultures. She has been featured[…]
Above all else, we lift credit to our Creator for giving us purpose and the strength to chase our dreams. All-women drums are not new. Women have served in many roles throughout history, with Native women accepting responsibility in every area of life in our world. Our purpose at the drum has always been to[…]
Sue Lundquist has had a passion for music since she can remember. As a child she studied piano and guitar and longed to play the drums. Forty years ago girls were not encouraged to play. True to her desire to learn she finally found her path on the drum twenty years ago. Carolyn Brandy has[…]
Sidney Weaverling is a co-director and co-founder of Rueda Con Ritmo, a Cuban-style dance school and performing group based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a longtime contributor to the currently thriving Cuban-style salsa scene in the SF Bay Area, with more than 10 years of experience as a teacher, performer, and choreographer.[…]
Annette A. Aguilar – multi-percussionist, recording artist,educator, producer and bandleader – was born in San Francisco into a family from Nicaragua. She began playing music at the age of eleven. At sixteen, she was recognized for her percussion playing and began sitting in and performing with internationally renowned Latin artists such as members of the[…]
Tonya Lyles–Based in Austin Texas, Tonya “Onye” Lyles has founded SistaDrums to rejuvenate, invigorate, and uplift a community through teaching the art of hand-drumming and movement linked to traditional world rhythms. Tonya’s drum path began at four years old. Her first drum was a tambourine played in a gospel choir where she sang and performed[…]