Join Resound NYC for a two-day Handpan and World Percussion residency featuring renowned players and teachers from around the world. Classes will range from beginner to advanced, and all-levels are encouraged to join. For those who do not own a handpan but would like to join, Handpans will be provided at no additional cost. If you own a handpan or hand drum, please bring it! Workshops and our Saturday evening concert will be held at Gaia NoMaya in Brooklyn, NY.
Full Workshop Schedule
Saturday, Mar 16
10AM - 11:30: Michael Akortia : Warmups for the Hands and Mind
12:30 -2pm: Sofi Dias : Brazilian Grooves on Handpan
2:30-4pm: Dan Mulqueen : Handpan Beats for the Modern Player
4:30-5:30: Jonathan Scales : Composing and Improvising
5:30 - 6:30 : Soundcheck for Concert
7pm - Concert
Sunday, Mar 17
10am - 12pm: Adam Maalouf +Michael Akortia : Global Grooves and Advanced Techniques
1pm - 2pm: Dan Mulqueen + Sofi Dias : Composing and Improvising on Handpan
12:30 - 4pm: Sofi Dias, Michael Akortia, Dan Mulqueen, Adam Maalouf - The Art of Collaboration
Our venue is located near several great cafes and restaurants so participants will have several options for meals and snacks throughout the weekend.
Evening Concert Description
Resound Handpan House and Gaia Nomaya invite you to feel a vibration beyond borders as an international collective of handpan artists comes together in a one-of-a-kind musical collaboration. As the evening unfolds, the group will perform pieces high-lighting both their own unique style and the collaborative magic that happens when artists create together. The handpan is a hybrid percussion instrument that combines both, aspects from the steel pan from Trinidad, as well as the clay drum named "Ghatam" from South India.
The Resound concert presentation features North American and Internationally recognized handpan artists.
This concert is part of a weekend-long handpan retreat in NYC. To learn more about joining and learning from these masterful artists, please visit: https://www.viewcy.com/o/resoundnyc
Teachers & Performers:
Adam Maalouf - The creator behind Resound, Maalouf is inspired by uncovering new possibilities in the world of singing steel. Composing with handpan, world percussion, cello and a variety of other instruments, Maalouf forms an East-West blend bridging his Lebanese-American heritage with his training in classical music, jazz and world music.
www.adammaalouf.com
Dan Mulqueen - Dan's playing style is both beautifully melodic and intensely percussive. While keeping the handpan as the centerpiece of his compositions, his stylistic approach invites the listener to experience elements of multiple genres of music.
www.danmulqueen.com
Sofia Dias - Miami based multi-instrumentalist Sofia Dias graduated from Miami Dade College in Music Education. Sofia focuses on world percussion and has been involved in various music projects in her community ever since. As a handpan artist, Sofia utilizes the handpan in music performance, education and music therapy. Sofi is part of Miami’s very own samba percussion community MiamiBloco since 2019, paying respect to her Brazilian heritage.
www.sofiadiasmusic.com
Michael Akortia - Born in France to his Armenian-Ghanaian family of musicians, this certified jam hunter has been drumming since the age of 6. Through years of practice and music study, Michael has cultivated a unique style that has earned him the nickname “groove master” in Japan.
www.michaelakortia.com
Resound NYC Guest Artist:
Jonathan Scales: American steel pannist and composer, Scales has recorded and produced seven albums, the most recent being Mindstate Music, released in 2019 on Ropeadope Records. Since 2007, Scales has recorded and performed with Victor Wooten, Howard Levy, The Duhks, Roy "Future Man" Wooten, Jeff Coffin, Jeff Sipe, Casey Driessen, Oteil Burbridge, Kofi Burbridge, Yonrico Scott, and Béla Fleck whom Scales describes as his "musical hero". His albums have been reviewed by Modern Drummer and JazzTimes. Scales graduated from Appalachian State University in 2006.
www.jonscales.com
Brief History of the Handpan
Most people agree that the founders of the handpan are Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer of PANArt Hangbau AG in Bern, Switzerland. The two were career steel pan builders as well as inventors of multiple other musical instruments. Felix started building steel pans in Switzerland in 1976 and supplied many of the instruments for the steel bands that arose in the country in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
In the late 1990’s, Reto Weber, a hand percussionist, came to Felix and Sabina and had the idea for changing a steel pan into a “sounding pot in steel with some notes to play with the hands”. The idea was to mix the sound of the South India Ghatam with the sound of a steel pan. The word “Hang” came from the Bernese German word for “Hand”.