Newark, MD, April 15, 2024– Worcester County Public Schools (WCPS) welcomes musician Kevin Martin of Rockcreek Steel Drums for the second time this school year. Previously doing a one-day instrumental music residency at Snow Hill Middle School (SHMS) with SHMS and Cedar Chapel Special School, Martin will spend today and tomorrow at Buckingham Elementary School (BES) for a two-day residency.
Funding for this residency has been provided by the Worcester County Arts Council’s (WCAC) Arts in Education program. The funding for this program is designed to promote, strengthen, and enhance the arts and arts education in schools and community settings.
“This kind of music residency is a great example of the kind of equitable access to educational arts that the Arts Council supports,” said WCAC Executive Director Anna Mullis. “Rockcreek Steel Drums will provide percussion workshops to BES students, giving them a unique musical experience that many students may never have had if not for this opportunity.”
The mission of Rockcreek Steel Drums is to expand the reach of the steel pan and the steel tongue drum, an artform of Trinidad and Tobago, through instrument construction, education and performance. Since 1991, Kevin Martin has performed as a musician and teaching artist in thousands of shows and is based out of Annapolis, MD, while having roots right here in Berlin, MD. Martin has previously won the Young Audiences of Maryland Teaching Artist of the Year award. Martin’s Artist-in-Residence program “The Steel Drum Experience” brings the joy of learning, rhythm, and music to youth all over the United States and in 30 countries.
Buckingham Elementary School second and third graders will learn about and performing on chromatic single guitar style steel pans. The pans have thirteen chromatic notes from the D above middle C, and are hand built on a full sized 55-gallon steel barrel.
“This arts opportunity, and ones like it, allow our students to engage deeply with music, foster a sense of creativity and empower our youth to collaborate to perform as a group. That is what the arts are all about”, said WCPS Fine and Performing Arts Coordinator Tamara Mills.
This residency will address multiple Maryland Music Standards in students’ instruction. The project will integrate reading music notation, music creation, and creating connections between instrumental music and the role music plays in our lives.
More information about Rockcreek Steel Drums can be found at www.rockcreeksteeldrums.com.