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Buchan school hosts Felix Ngindu, African Drumming Demonstration and Workshops

Felix gave a wonderful demonstration to the island primary and secondary staff at the music centre in Douglas on Wednesday 3 February.  We were given a djembe drum each and we all learnt how to produce the various sounds and rhythms.  Some were better than others but we all had to listen and keep together.  Felix had us playing different rhythms at the same time and even doing demonstrations on our own.  It was great fun but physically tiring.

Felix came to the Buchan school the next morning and he had all the children and staff in assembly captivated from the start.  He drew everyone together and had the school singing and dancing.  He was very enthusiastic and the children did not want him to stop.  Uthenga was the star of the show as he demonstrated his dancing skills in front of everyone.  Two of the pupils Jessica and Robyn then worked out a superb dance routine.
 
Felix’s workshops were wonderful and exciting.  He explained everything clearly and the children copied this role model on their own djembe drums.  He encouraged every child to have a try and had a little competition at the end which extended the more capable in the group who wanted to play on his drum.  The most noteworthy children from the groups were Cameron and Brook from 3F.  Sophie from 3M was the overall winner of the competition with Oliver in second place.  Both Jodie, Oliver and Erin got the chance to play on his drum.  The children gained so much from his visit and we are all hoping that he will be able to come for a full day next year so that he can build on this foundation and establish further development.
 
Sue Mills  (Buchan Music Coordinator)
 
Some details about Felix:
Felix Ngindu Kasanganayi was born in the heat and humidity of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formally known as Zaire), into a typical African family surrounded by Aunts, Uncles, brothers and sisters. At the tender age of just three he was already playing in the Gospel church; playing the Tumba (Mbonda) known as African Conga and singing along. Felix was a locally known drummer by the age of just twelve and was already seeing himself on stage with the likes of Kanda Bongoman, and Koffi Olomide .
 
At the age of eleven he was sent away to boarding school where he was always trying to skip school and play the drums. By sixteen he was finally able to find his niche at school and both play the drums wherever he could and take up his love of art and textiles. He finally left school at 17 where he finally had the freedom to explore his drumming and his art. For the next six years Felix was playing round the clubs in Kinshasa trying to find his way and getting himself known in the music business. His father was a laboratory technician in General Hospital in Congo and his mother a devoted wife who died at a very early age.  
 
In his early 20s his true talent was really beginning to show.   He spent much time in the village with no electricity where he used to take up and play the drums ( Djembe)with the younger children. He took this up to vary his own percussion experience and learnt how to hunt animals, skin them and use the skin to make his own variety of drums. Eventually he was given the opportunity to travel around Africa including Kenya, Ivory Coast , Island of Madagascar , Guinea Malabo, Nigeria and Congo Brazzaville, Benin Cotonou, Uganda before travelling round France and Belgium then settling in Cameroon. While in Cameroon he started working with initially his own band called Etoile du Zaire (Star of Zaire) then joined several of the well known bands and musicians in Cameroon like Donny Elwood, Jean Pierre Essome, Ottou Marcelin, Katino, Mpande Star, Rosine Ebessa , Grace Decca to name but a few.  
 
Another of his talents was shown when Felix started teaching and performing at the French International School (Le Flamboyant), teaching young white children from all over the globe. These were mostly from pretty well off parents, living in a luxurious area just outside the centre of Yaounde, before travelling back to France. Felix has managed to get himself well known in Liverpool (the Capital of Culture) both as a teacher and before that through his busking when he first arrived in this country and from time to time even now when he has a free moment or two. His talent has been much praised here both by non musicians and by professionals, playing behind the big screen where he is seen in the heart of the city centre. Since coming here he has already traveled to several countries round Europe with his family through contacts and musical events. He has performed several times with one of his greatest mentors, Kanda Bongoman, in England (both north and south) as well as during a trip to Australia (Adelaide) for the Womad Festival. He has played at the Isle of White Festival, Womad Festival in Reading 2006, Manchester International Arts Festival in 2005, Africa Day in 2007, Slavery Remembrance 2006 and the Matthew Street Festival 2006.