Alena Schneider
Since starting on drumkit at the age of 10, Alena has fuelled her instrument
ADD by branching out into all sorts of classical, mallet and African percussion.
Alena has taken two extended tours to Ghana where she has played and studied
with renowned members of cultural group "Salaka" and
members of "Kusun Ensemble." Alena enjoys her polyrhythmic life, often caught playing counting games with
car indicators in traffic jams. She is currently in her third year at the
VCA studying music.
Gez Clancy
Gez started playing drumkit at the age of 4, then progressed to the saxaphone
from the age of 7 for the next seven years. At the age of 14 he traded
in his saxaphone for a guitar and played in a few different bands. In 2000
he discovered the djembe which changed his world completely! Since then
he has studied with Ray Peria, Ni Teti Tati, Mahommed Bangoura, King Marong
and Scott Lewington.
Jason Lehman
Jase developed an interest in hand percussion drumming in the mid nineties,
after being inspired by a wild drum circle at St Andrews Markets. He impulsively
purchased a Djembe that same day... only to promptly put it aside in fear
of making a complete and utter fool of himself.
After the occasional minor, but brave skirmish with drummers during his annual trips to Byron Bay, he was fortunate enough to encounter a drum workshop at his first Confest in 2003. The workshop was being held by Simon Fraser, whom Jase immediately adopted as his teacher, the beginning of a long and inspiring relationship which continues to this day.
Jase additionally studied for a period under Simon Lewis and has enjoyed many many workshops with a great variety of teachers, including Mady Keita, Boubacar Gaye, Salaka, Tuza Affutu, Ben Coleman, Anita Larkin and more.
He got his first paid gig on new years eve of 2005, trained and performed with Wassawamba during 2005-6, later travelling with Simon Fraser to Ghana to study Gha & Burkina Faso rhythms for a month at the beginning of 2008.
Djulz Chambers
Djulz began studying and performing West African percussion in Melbourne several years ago. Since experiencing her first attraction to the dynamic energy of percussion ensembles she has travelled throughout West Africa extensively, studying with master drummers and musicians in Mali, Ghana and Burkina Faso. Based in Melbourne, Djulz has her hands on drum skins at every opportunity and continues to study and perform with some of Melbourne’s most renown artists in the field including Mady Keita, Bouba Gaye, Sayon Souare and Simon Fraser.
Kylie Bayens
Rhythm Arkadia is my dream born from a passion based on drumming. Arkadia
symbolises peace and simplicity, something I have discovered
since I started drumming – my Arkadia! The founder of Rhythm
Arkadia, I was called to the drum after hearing it at many festivals and
have been
studying African drumming since early 2006;
teachers including
Ben
Coleman,
Simon
Fraser,
Mady Keita, Simon Lewis, Boubacar Gaye, Mohamed Bangoura and Mahomad
Camara. I attended a four week intensive African drumming study tour in
Nungua,
Ghana,
West
Africa during this time.
My soul purpose is to spread the healing vibrations of African drumming (tribal trance) to the larger community in Victoria with spectacular performances at festivals and events.
Nicole Lewis
Nicole started classical training in music early, playing flute in concert bands and later for the Bendigo Symphony Orchestra. The switch to percussion began slowly with the purchase of the first djembe at Bondi Beach in the early nineties and from there the addiction took hold.
Back in Bendigo now with her husband and two children Nicole travels to visiting teachers workshops, such as Paa Brown, King Marong, Lamine Sonko and currently studies djembe weekly with Simon Fraser.
Sarina Meusburger
Sarina first became interested in African drumming through her participation in workshops at a festival in the Netherlands early in the century. After playing at similar events throughout Queensland and Victoria upon her return to the country, she became a student of Mady Keita’s (a world renown master drummer from Bamako, Mali). It was under his tuition that Sarina developed her art and discovered the true nature of the instrument. She is also a student of traditional Arabic drumming under Anita Larkin and Tony Lou, who represent the art at the Underbelly studio in Collingwood.
She was one of the founding members of Purpledog Rhythms, a percussion ensemble who were active around Melbourne for two years. PdR performances raised money for and awareness of African health issues and were affiliated with the “Eyes for Africa” organisation. Sarina is passionate about sharing the rhythms of Africa with others, and in embracing opportunities to help the countries that have inspired her with their cultural richness during her journey along the drumming path.
Tony Lou
Tony has a keen interest in all forms of percussion and plays a variety of World Music instruments including, West African Djembe and Dun Dun, Turkish Darabukka, Egyptian Riq, Persian Daf, Morrocan Doumbek and an array of Frame Drums. With strong influences from the Meditteranean and Middle Eastern regions, he brings to Rhythm Arkadia a syncopation of lush and complex non-standard time signatures that blend well with traditional 6/8 and 4/4 West African patterns.
He also plays in a Middle Eastern percussion ensemble called BellySlap! which is the only such ensemble currently providing live drumming support for the Melbourne and Regional bellydance student community. He has produced a CD of Core Middle Eastern Rhythms and is looking to recommence group classes based on this CD in mid Autumn of '09.
Tony is regularly called upon to provide solo and duet drumming support for professional bellydancers in unique and unusual settings, such as Fetish Balls, the Bizarre Music Festival, and various alternative fashion shows and nightclub events.