World Beat - Multicultural fun and positive music made by a group of middle schoolers from Evergreen Community Charter School in Asheville, NC. All proceeds benefit the music program.

8 MP3 Songs in this album (28:09) !
Related styles: WORLD: World Beat, KIDS/FAMILY: General Children's Music



Details:
When you buy our CD's the money goes to maintain and expand our school music program. We need funding for maintenance, tuning and building marimbas and mallets for the marimba program, Instruments for the K-5 program including percussion instruments and guitars, music stands and books, Funding for artist residencies - concerts, workshops improvements to the music room and the school theater.

EMBE Marimba Band
is from Evergreen Community Charter School, a K-8 school in beautiful Asheville, NC. Evergreen is a learning community committed to the pursuit of excellence in the holistic education of mind, body, and spirit. It's an inspiring place where students are prepared for successful lifelong learning, environmental responsibility, and service.

For the past six years, music director, Sue Ford has directed the school's band program, not a regular school band but a middle school multicultural beat ensemble made up of Zimbabwean style marimbas and a variety of other homemade percussion instruments. EMBE (Evergreen Multicultural Beat Ensemble) offers students an opportunity to be a part of unique, high quality, fun and upbeat music making. Students come to rely on every other member of the band, learning that every person is an integral part of the whole.
They are expected to be good representatives of their school in the community and to be responsible, committed and significant crewmembers of the band. All students must participate in the load in and load out crews so they can take the band on the road. All of the equipment is hauled in the school's biodiesel bus. Parents help drive the students and they all get the opportunity to be part of a band that already has a good reputation, based on the six years of previous bands' appearances in the community.

EMBE is committed to excellence and has a history of residencies with world-class musicians: Ivory Coast drummer and dancer, Kevin Meyame, singer-songwriter Billy Jonas, world percussionist, River Guerguerian, trumpeter (Firecracker Jazz Band and the Squirrel Nut Zippers), Je Widenhouse, Puerto Rican drummer and singer, Ronnie Delerme, West African bala master, Alkaly Camara, Zimbabwean mbira master, Musekiwa Chingodza and Japanese banjo player, Akira Satake. EMBE has recorded two CD's featuring these artists or the results of their work with the band.

EMBE has performed in the community at the LEAF festival, Asheville Bravo Events "Art in the Garden", "Music That Moves You" concert at Diana Wortham Theater, Smilefest, AMJAM, The Wedge Gallery, NC Arboretum, Asheville Rotary Club, Warren Wilson College Chapel, UNC-A and the Asheville Holiday Parade, winning the Grand Prize, the "Spirit of the Parade" award, the first year and "Best School Entry" the second year. EMBE has performed at statewide events such as" Dream a Better Dreamâs 28 County Initiative Conference", the Middle School Model UN Conference, a regional meeting of the Rotary Club, the NC Charter School Conference in Raleigh and the National Orff Association Conference in Charlotte, a showcase for music teachers from all over the country.