Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1502512
and we secured funding through grant writing, including a grant from the Knight Foundation. We expanded our activities by hosting summer drum camps, called Camp Drums and Dreams. Streetline has over 60 members now. Our people grow up playing with us, go off to college, come back, and the camaraderie continues – it's contagious. That's how our program has such longevity. MM: In what ways have these percussion-based mediums helped to shape the beat of our city? MR: We are fortunate to have three colleges/universities with music programs. It is very easy to get students excited about playing live music and making the community grow because we, the faculty, are interested in the growth of our students and our community. I have students playing in numerous bands around town, for churches, shows at all of the local theaters, and traveling acts; doing clinics, master classes, private teaching; and working with area high schools, which further shapes the face of Central Georgia. The list is endless. If there is music to be played, chances are very good that a Mercer University Percussion Studio representative will be there. PL: We have been instrumental in planting and nurturing the West African Percussion community of Central Georgia. Our West African dance performances are always accompanied by live West African Percussion. We are the oldest (and perhaps currently the only) performing ensemble specializing in West African dance and percussion in Central Georgia. As such, we provide sights and sounds that many children and adults may otherwise never witness in person. Our music helps to bring West African culture, history, and heritage into focus as opposed to the myriad of negative stereotypes that exist for so many. Children and adults alike learn about the complexities, origins, and purposes of the dances and music. Many students learn to be even more proud of themselves and their heritage. Whenever we have worked with a group of children, there has always been an almost palpable sense of achievement and joy as they explore the instruments and learn what they are all made of. There is nothing like it! MM: What events are taking place within Macon that are designed to share a love of music and percussion with larger gatherings of people? MR: The Mercer Percussion Studio holds two concerts each school year, one each fall and spring, that are free and open to the public, held in the McCorkle Music Building at 1329 Adams Street on Mercer's campus. The Mercer Percussion Ensemble plays the first part of the concert, followed by BEAR Steel, Mercer's Steel Drum Band. Many people have never heard a concert 90 maconmagazine.com | JUNE/JULY 2023