All-LEVELS WEST AFRICAN DRUM CLASSES. Sundays, 3:45-4:45 p.m., Channing Murray Foundation. $7 per class ($5 students). The class is an ongoing drop-in format, but it is preferable to be at the first class, and to attend regularly. Session 1 of the course begins Sunday, June 2, and runs through the end of July 2019.

The focus of the class will be West African rhythms used by dance instructor Tatianna Mays in her weekly dance class (Sundays, 5 p.m. at Channing Murray).

All drummers will learn/improve on their hand drum technique on the djembe, and stick technique on the dunduns, through practice exercises and playing the accompaniment parts to the rhythms. Intermediate and advanced players will learn and practice the role of the lead drummer, as well as advanced dundun parts and variations. This class is a great opportunity for dancers to gain a better understanding of the rhythms!

The class is taught by Gordon Kay, who has studied and performed West African drumming for 18 years. Please email Gordon (gkay01@gmail.com) with any questions, if you do not have your own drum to bring, and to confirm ahead of time that you will be attending the class.

All-LEVELS WEST AFRICAN DRUM CLASSES. Sundays, 3:45-4:45 p.m., Channing Murray Foundation. $7 per class ($5 students). The class is an ongoing drop-in format, but it is preferable to be at the first class, and to attend regularly. Session 1 of the course begins Sunday, June 2, and runs through the end of July 2019.

The focus of the class will be West African rhythms used by dance instructor Tatianna Mays in her weekly dance class (Sundays, 5 p.m. at Channing Murray).

All drummers will learn/improve on their hand drum technique on the djembe, and stick technique on the dunduns, through practice exercises and playing the accompaniment parts to the rhythms. Intermediate and advanced players will learn and practice the role of the lead drummer, as well as advanced dundun parts and variations. This class is a great opportunity for dancers to gain a better understanding of the rhythms!

The class is taught by Gordon Kay, who has studied and performed West African drumming for 18 years. Please email Gordon (gkay01@gmail.com) with any questions, if you do not have your own drum to bring, and to confirm ahead of time that you will be attending the class.

All-LEVELS WEST AFRICAN DRUM CLASSES. Sundays, 3:45-4:45 p.m., Channing Murray Foundation. $7 per class ($5 students). The class is an ongoing drop-in format, but it is preferable to be at the first class, and to attend regularly. Session 1 of the course begins Sunday, June 2, and runs through the end of July 2019.

The focus of the class will be West African rhythms used by dance instructor Tatianna Mays in her weekly dance class (Sundays, 5 p.m. at Channing Murray).

All drummers will learn/improve on their hand drum technique on the djembe, and stick technique on the dunduns, through practice exercises and playing the accompaniment parts to the rhythms. Intermediate and advanced players will learn and practice the role of the lead drummer, as well as advanced dundun parts and variations. This class is a great opportunity for dancers to gain a better understanding of the rhythms!

The class is taught by Gordon Kay, who has studied and performed West African drumming for 18 years. Please email Gordon (gkay01@gmail.com) with any questions, if you do not have your own drum to bring, and to confirm ahead of time that you will be attending the class.

All-LEVELS WEST AFRICAN DRUM CLASSES. Sundays, 3:45-4:45 p.m., Channing Murray Foundation. $7 per class ($5 students). The class is an ongoing drop-in format, but it is preferable to be at the first class, and to attend regularly. Session 1 of the course begins Sunday, June 2, and runs through the end of July 2019.

The focus of the class will be West African rhythms used by dance instructor Tatianna Mays in her weekly dance class (Sundays, 5 p.m. at Channing Murray).

All drummers will learn/improve on their hand drum technique on the djembe, and stick technique on the dunduns, through practice exercises and playing the accompaniment parts to the rhythms. Intermediate and advanced players will learn and practice the role of the lead drummer, as well as advanced dundun parts and variations. This class is a great opportunity for dancers to gain a better understanding of the rhythms!

The class is taught by Gordon Kay, who has studied and performed West African drumming for 18 years. Please email Gordon (gkay01@gmail.com) with any questions, if you do not have your own drum to bring, and to confirm ahead of time that you will be attending the class.

All-LEVELS WEST AFRICAN DRUM CLASSES. Sundays, 3:45-4:45 p.m., Channing Murray Foundation. $7 per class ($5 students). The class is an ongoing drop-in format, but it is preferable to be at the first class, and to attend regularly. Session 1 of the course begins Sunday, June 2, and runs through the end of July 2019.

The focus of the class will be West African rhythms used by dance instructor Tatianna Mays in her weekly dance class (Sundays, 5 p.m. at Channing Murray).

All drummers will learn/improve on their hand drum technique on the djembe, and stick technique on the dunduns, through practice exercises and playing the accompaniment parts to the rhythms. Intermediate and advanced players will learn and practice the role of the lead drummer, as well as advanced dundun parts and variations. This class is a great opportunity for dancers to gain a better understanding of the rhythms!

The class is taught by Gordon Kay, who has studied and performed West African drumming for 18 years. Please email Gordon (gkay01@gmail.com) with any questions, if you do not have your own drum to bring, and to confirm ahead of time that you will be attending the class.

All-LEVELS WEST AFRICAN DRUM CLASSES. Sundays, 3:45-4:45 p.m., Channing Murray Foundation. $7 per class ($5 students). The class is an ongoing drop-in format, but it is preferable to be at the first class, and to attend regularly. Session 1 of the course begins Sunday, June 2, and runs through the end of July 2019.

The focus of the class will be West African rhythms used by dance instructor Tatianna Mays in her weekly dance class (Sundays, 5 p.m. at Channing Murray).

All drummers will learn/improve on their hand drum technique on the djembe, and stick technique on the dunduns, through practice exercises and playing the accompaniment parts to the rhythms. Intermediate and advanced players will learn and practice the role of the lead drummer, as well as advanced dundun parts and variations. This class is a great opportunity for dancers to gain a better understanding of the rhythms!

The class is taught by Gordon Kay, who has studied and performed West African drumming for 18 years. Please email Gordon (gkay01@gmail.com) with any questions, if you do not have your own drum to bring, and to confirm ahead of time that you will be attending the class.

This ensemble of young musicians who live in Chicago’s Mexican-American neighborhoods has made a glittering debut in the Latin music scene, celebrating and defining an aspect of Mexican heritage (herencia) for a new generation. Participants in the Mariachi Heritage Foundation program, which incorporates mariachi music education into the curriculum of eight of Chicago’s public schools, the students’ 2017 first album (Nuestra Herencia) scored a Latin Grammy Award nomination for Best Ranchero/Mariachi Album. Their 2018 follow-up recording Herencia De La Tierra Mía (The Heritage Of My Land)—produced by mariachi master José Hernández— debuted at #1 on iTunes and #2 on the Billboard charts and features guest superstars Lila Downs and Aida Cuevas. Mariachi Herencia de México joins Krannert Center on Cinco de Mayo with the traditional sounds of violins, guitarrón, vihuela, and vocals and the distinctive traje de charro attire in a celebratory concert that both preserves the legacy of Mexican culture and trailblazes an artistic path all its own.

Iraqi-American trumpeter, santur (hammered dulcimer) player, vocalist, and composer Amir ElSaffar has mastered disparate musical styles and created a singular approach to combining aspects of Middle Eastern music with American jazz, extending the boundaries of each tradition. A recipient of the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award and a 2018 United States Artists Fellow, he is also a purveyor of the centuries old, now endangered, Iraqi maqam tradition, which he performs actively. ElSaffar’s Rivers of Sound Orchestra brings together 17 musicians from a broad spectrum of traditions, creating an entirely new musical vocabulary that transcends established notions of style. As the orchestra’s treatment of pitches and rhythms become fluid, so do cultural boundaries; elements that traditionally divide musicians into separate genres are recontextualized in a fresh transcultural soundscape. This musical alchemy led the Chicago Tribune to call ElSaffar “one of the most promising figures in jazz today.”

Over eight million spectators worldwide have experienced the “extraordinarily talented percussion artists” of the Aichi, Japan-based TAO (Chicago Tribune). The members of TAO, who are both expressive musicians and highly trained athletes, are preserving and expanding upon the ancient Japanese drumming tradition with their modern showcases that include dynamic choreography, engaging visuals, and striking costumes.

Recommended for ages 9 and up.

Krannert Center has a beloved tradition of leaping into the spring semester with the beauty of classical dance performances—and this season we uphold that legacy with the exquisite artistry of the award-winning Shanghai Ballet. For over 30 years, this heralded troupe has presented repertoire from both the Eastern and Western canons, earning recognition for “technically exquisite and emotionally moving” performances (Ottawa Citizen). The Butterfly Lovers, a dramatic and soaring tale of complicated love, hidden identities, and the overcoming of great obstacles, is choreographed by company director Xin Lili and incorporates Chinese aesthetic elements in its design and movement.

Recommended for ages 10 and up.