Workshops in percussionBorn in El Valle, in the city of Caracas, Venezuela, James’ musical beginnings happened by chance in the basketball courts of El Barrio. James watched a samba class drumming from a nearby building and stared at the group from across the stairs. He started learning like many other musicians by playing in the street - Salsa, Merengue and other Latin rhythms, playing with different bands - timbales, bongos, congas and vocals. When he went to the University of Los Andres, in the city of Merida, Venezuela, he was called upon to play with different salsa bands, ensembles and rhythms. Upon his arrival in the UK, he became a percussion teacher and organised different Afro-Venezuelan and Afro-Cuban courses in the Instituto Cervantes (centre of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American culture), in Manchester. James has created an interactive online percussion course for beginners and potential drummers, and he has also worked with the NHS in Manchester, delivering percussion courses for young people with severe problems of paranoia and schizophrenia.
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James VielmaJAMES VIELMA
Workshop facilitator: percussion |