Press Release: Students Make Then Learn To Play Their Instruments At Cotuit Center for the Arts!

Students Make Then Learn To Play Their Instruments At Cotuit Center for the Arts!

Cotuit Center for the Arts is pleased to announce the latest exciting class from Sam Holmstock and Nancy Wilde, Shekere Party with Sam and Nancy!, which begins on October 12^th and involves students making then learning to play their instruments.

Participants will learn how to build and play an Afro-Cuban shekere (pronunciation: SHAY-kuh-ray), a percussion instrument of West African origin consisting of a hollow gourd covered with a loose netting on which beads, shells, or seeds are strung. It can be played by shaking, tapping, or by rubbing or pulling on the net with the hands, and the effect is sonically similar to maracas or other shaker instruments.

“This class is part craft, part musical instruction and all fun,” says Sam, who also runs ongoing drum circle classes at the center for Veterans with PTSD and for the general public. “The shekere is found in various forms in a wide variety of West African and Caribbean musical genres, both traditional and contemporary, and is also a mainstay in certain genres of Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music. Because it’s made of natural materials, including (usually) a real gourd, each individual instrument can vary substantially from the next in shape and size, which also affects the tone of the instrument.”

The class runs on Fridays from 4 to 6pm, October 12^th to November 30^th (no classes on Oct 26^th and Nov 23^rd). Classes cost $175 for non-members and $148.75 for members, with a $50 materials fee payable to Sam Holmstock at the first class.

Sam Holmstock, a founding member of the band Entrain, has taught Afro-Caribbean drumming for 35 years across Cape Cod and beyond. He has played with artists such as Babatunde Olatunji, Bo Diddley, Gil Scott-Heron, Kate and James Taylor, Bob Weir, and even Bill Clinton.

Nancy Wilde’s beaded jewelry designs incorporate natural stones and materials and are inspired by Southwest Native American pottery and weaving, and the artistry of world cultures. She has recently joined Sam Holmstock’s Drum Strategies and is learning hand percussion. This has led her to combine these two arts in creating beaded designs for natural gourd shekere instruments.

More information on this class and other educational experiences may be found at artsonthecape.org or by calling 508-428-0669.

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What: Students make then learn to play their instruments during the Shekere Party with Sam and Nancy! Class at Cotuit Center for the Arts

Where: Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Route 28, Cotuit

When: Fridays from 4 to 6pm, October 12^th to November 30^th (no classes on Oct 26^th and Nov 23^rd)

Admission: $175 for non-members and $148.75 for members, with a $50 materials fee payable to Sam Holmstock at the first class

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