Wishing you a summer filled with joy, music, family, and friends. I hope you can join us for another inspirational and spiritually uplifting afternoon of music. Please help spread the word about this community event! The winter semester at Oakland University has been a joyous whirlwind of teaching and music making. Our Soul Food event, which took place this past January, was a huge success.
Because it was such an inspirational and spiritually uplifting afternoon, we have decided to do it again! We are looking for sponsors for Soul Food with the hopes of making this an ongoing series. If you, your business, or someone you know would be interested in sponsoring this initiative through the non-profit Pontiac Creative Art Center please contact me.
As always, thanks for supporting the music and I hope to see you at an upcoming show! Having studied the gyil xylophone for the past 25 years, completing this initiation was a major milestone. In , it is my goal to channel this spiritual growth as a Baha'i, father, and Goba into both my music and community work. As I attempt to meet this resolution, I'm kicking off the new year with two very special events.
- All Books in the Universe!
- Our Boomer Years?
- The Converging: Mark of the Demon?
- Fence Lines;
- El prisionero del Vaticano (Spanish Edition).
- The SP String Quartet!
The purpose of this free event is to provide encouragement to our community through the healing power of music. Six different groups, representing a diverse range of cultural and spiritual traditions, will share their music and its message of peace and unity. Incorporating elements of jazz, folk, blues, hip-hop, rock and traditional Native American music, Spirits Rising shares music from the heart that inspires and uplifts. The duo is joined onstage by world-renowned musicians and Native American dancers. Together they weave traditional Native American culture into a powerful tapestry of contemporary music and rhythm, integrating diverse influences from the four directions.
The fall semester is grooving right along. The success of my own teaching is built upon a foundation given to me by many generous teachers who have shared their musical passion. It is truly a privilege to get up every day and pass this rich gift of music on to the next generation. The month of November is quite special, as I will be working together with three of my musical mentors. My very first professor at the University of Ghana back in was the multi-talented Paschal Younge.
The Drifters
In addition to being a master Anlo-Ewe drummer, Paschal is a highly accomplished composer and brass band director. We will be reinterpreting compositions from the classical music canon, ranging from Mozart to Reich. My trip to Ecuador this past summer was a wonderful experience. Throughout my Ecuador trip, I enjoyed a lot of quality time with my predecessor at Oakland University, Prof. Doc and his awesome wife Diane hosted me at their home in Cumbaya. I hope to see you soon. This past month was intense, the most challenging of my life.
I am thrilled to be getting back to playing some music in the month ahead. The operation was a success, and he spent the next 10 days of his life recovering at U of M. During this traumatic time, we received an incredible outpouring of love from all over the globe. This free concert will feature exciting steelband music performed by Lesley-Anne Stone lead pan , Pat Prouty bass , Miguel Gutierrez percussion , and myself double second pans.
More details can be found here.
Get A Copy
At the end of July, I will be traveling to Ecuador to present a solo performance and workshops at the 11th International Percussion and Educational Festival in Quito. It has been a whirlwind month with nonstop performing and teaching, but I am thankful for the opportunity to work with so many incredible artists and to teach such dedicated students. Here is a short sample of our work together. Details can be found here.
These concerts are not to be missed! Two weeks ago, I enjoyed performing at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival the largest festival of Indian music outside of India with some of the finest Carnatic musicians in the world. A write up of the event can be found here. Later this month, after wrapping up the semester, I will head to New Jersey to perform with many of these wonderful musicians again. I will be taking the month of May off as Lesley-Anne and I eagerly anticipate the birth of our newest family member.
A big thank you to everyone who came out to support our Chennai fundraiser! The next few months are super busy with all kinds of fun and creative performances. Come on out to learn about and experience the beauty of Carnatic music. This highly participatory family concert will trace the history of the steel pan and feature exciting steelband music performed by Lesley-Anne Stone lead pan , John Dana bass , Miguel Gutierrez percussion , and myself double second pans. Latter in the month, I have the distinct privilege of taking part in the annual Cleveland Tyagaraja Festival.
This day festival is the largest Indian classical music event outside of India. The entire festival is amazing! The concert will take place at4: This benefit is in collaboration with the Carnatica Archival Center, a Chennai-based non-profit. All funds raised will be sent directly to the Carnatic Archival Center in Chennai to support Chennai-based musicians, many of whom lost everything in the recent floods. As GLAC is a non-profit, your donations are tax deductible. Wishing you a joyous and blessed New Year!
I am also taking part in two notable fundraisers this month, the first for the community of Pontiac, and the second for the community of Chennai, India. Education and Enrichment Center of Pontiac. Georgie is passionate about the arts and its power to transform communities. This grassroots organization is doing great work, especially for the youth of Pontiac.
If not for a last-minute cancellation, I would have been in India during these floods, which killed several hundred people and displaced thousands. The affected and displaced also includes musicians, many of whom lost not only their homes, but also all of their instruments. As a way of supporting my adoptive Indian music community, I have organized a benefit concert for musicians affected by the Chennai floods. I hope you can attend one or more of these special events. Thanks to everyone who came out to support my CD release concerts last month!
We had a great time playing and sharing the music. Doc is the professor who started our world music program forty years ago. Doc has also had a stellar career as both a jazz musician and ethnomusicologist. Bernard is my mentor from Ghana with whom I have collaborated since The knowledge that he has so generously shared with me over the years is central to my teaching.
Bernard is a dynamic percussionist and the foremost gyil Ghanaian xylophone performer in the world. As the weather cools and we enter fall, I am thankful for a joyful summer of travel, music making, and time with family. My trips to South Africa and Uganda were awesome. I had the honor of being an adjudicator and clinician at the International Marimba and Steel Pan Festival in Johannesburg. With more than 1, participants from all over Africa, the festival was an absolutely exhilarating experience!
The highlight of my trip was visiting my friends and teachers in Nakibembe village, Uganda. Words cannot express the happiness I felt in being reunited with the Nakibembe Xylophone Group after 18 years and seeing them carrying on their beautiful embaire tradition. And that brings me to my major accomplishment of the summer: I finished my new CD! My new CD will be for sale at both events, so come by and pick up a copy. Interview with Mark Stone by Wxou on Mixcloud. After an incredible three months of performing, teaching, and recording together, I dropped off Haruna Walusimbi at the airport last week to head back to Uganda.
- Living With Gods Perfect Match: The Fulfilled Life.
- The Little Rainbow That Had No Yellow!
- All Books in the Universe.
During his time in the U. Wherever we went, Haruna delighted audiences with a rich treasure trove of Ugandan music and dance. The Vibrations Ensemble is made up of many of the musicians I worked with during my sabbatical last fall in India, and this is a rare opportunity to hear the group in Michigan.
During these performances, I will be sharing some of my new compositions for the group, written this past fall while on sabbatical. My trio will also be presenting three concerts together with the Sounding Light Chorale directed by the great Tom Trenney on June 5 th , 6 th , and 7 th. I am blessed to have these opportunities to play such a wide range of music with so many incredible musicians. I do hope you can make it out to one or more of the shows. Wednesday, April 22nd at 6: Monday, May 4th at 7: It has been wonderful to host my Ugandan brother Haruna Walusimbi at Oakland University for the past two months.
After not seeing one another for nearly 18 years, we have had a lot to catch up on. Together we've done plenty of traveling, performing, and teaching including: These shows are not to be missed and I am very proud of my OU students for their musicianship and dedication to learning Haruna's music. I hope you can make it out to one or more of these programs.
Thanks for supporting the music! In addition to my performance and research travels, I was able to get a lot of composing done and I look forward to sharing some new music with everyone in My experiences touring the UAE and India were truly life-changing.
- Series in this Universe;
- Dance Of The Stones Summer Of Magic Quartet 2.
- Repertoire.
- To Get Even;
- Summer of Magic Quartet Series by Andrea Spalding.
- Dance of the Stones by Andrea Spalding.
This Saturday, Jan 10 th , I will be hosting a full day of percussion workshops at Oakland University. This free event is open to the public and will include workshops on technology, concert percussion, drum set, steel drums, Indian percussion, and African percussion register here.
Summer of Magic Quartet Series in Order - Andrea Spalding - FictionDB
This concert with Regina features the music of Jimi Hendrix get tickets here. Looking ahead, my Ugandan brother Haruna Walusimbi will be making his first visit to the U. He is available for school workshops and concerts throughout his stay and we will be doing both an East Coast and Midwest tour. Please contact me if you are interested in scheduling a performance or workshop with Haruna on East African ngoma music, song, and dance during his visit.
Fall may still officially be a few days away, but it has definitely arrived here in Michigan. And what an incredible fall it is! For the first time in 40 years I am not in school but instead enjoying the best perk of a career in academia: The purpose of a sabbatical is to give profs like myself some time off from teaching to pursue research. Before I take off on my big adventure, there are still a few more shows friends in Michigan can catch. While it was disappointing to have my trip to Ghana cancelled, as a result I was able to attend some very cool events at home in the mitten.
Last weekend I played at the Magick Rhythm Fest. Although treated like royalty when they first arrive, the mages soon discover that the emperor plans to invade Gyongxe, posing a fatal threat to the home temple of the Living Circle […] Read More. Melting Stones Book Two in The Circle Reforged Evvy, a young stone mage in training, is accompanying her mentor, Rosethorn, and another dedicate from Winding Circle while they investigate mysterious happenings on the island of Starns. With the help of Luvo, the rock being she […] Read More. Now his remaining glass magic is mixed with lightning, and Tris must teach him to control it if she can teach him to control his temper first.
With his strange magic, he […] Read More. But there is no peace when mysterious fires begin to blaze across the vulnerable city.
Navigation menu
Daja assists Bennat Ladradun, a local firefighter with a tragic past, to fight the flames. The two […] Read More. Wandering through a Chammuri market, Briar comes across a street girl using powerful magic to polish stones for a merchant. He resolves to find her a teacher. But when she witnessed a boy dancing a spell, even she is confounded.
To her dismay, Sandry learns that as the mage who discovered the power of the young dancer, she must be his teacher. Before lessons […] Read More. But street kids are still his friends, and when one of them gets sick, she turns to […] Read More.