DRUM CIRCLE FACILITATORS GUILD

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Jonathan Murray

FunDrum Rhythm Circles

Founding Member

Member profile details

Membership level

Board of Advisors Member

First name

Jonathan

Last name

Murray

Company Name

FunDrum Rhythm Circles

City

Columbia

U.S. State

Maryland

Country

United States

Membership Information

DCFG Title

Founding Member

Status

Accredited

Professional Information

Member Head Shot

Biography

DCFG founding member Jonathan Murray retired in 2021. His bio is listed below.

Jonathan Murray is the founder of FunDrum Rhythm Circles, a Maryland based company specializing in rhythm-based events for community building, wellness and celebration. Jonathan is passionate about hand drums and percussion and loves to bring their magic to people. His own studies in drumming began in the third grade, when he played snare drum in the elementary school ensemble. Since then, his life's path has taken him to many countries throughout the world, where he has been fortunate enough to have been exposed to many different world rhythm traditions. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal, he lived and worked with subsistence farmers in a small village in the Himalayas for two years, and went back to live and study for another year in Kathmandu. Jonathan’s studies in Nepal allowed him to do important research into issues of maternal and child health, for which he was awarded his Masters Degree in International and Intercultural Management.

Jonathan is passionate about world percussion and has studied with many teachers and even traveled to Nigeria to study Yoruba culture and the talking drum. Jonathan has taken his passion and talent for teaching world music and created a program along with Dave Holland (fellow DCFG Board Member) called the Rhythm Planet Workshop - www.rhythmplanetworkshop.com This intensive program teaches universal concepts, techniques and rhythms for more than 30 different instruments from the Middle East, West Africa, the Caribbean and Brazil. Jonathan also teaches a very successful local class, called Basic Hand Drumming, which has taught hundreds of adult students to play hand drums and has helped to establish a thriving local drumming community.

Jonathan is very active in bringing drumming experiences to the area and has hosted and coordinated workshops for other teachers including: Arthur Hull, Jaqui MacMillan, Robert Friedman and Jim Donovan. He is a founder of Drumble Club, a regular community drum circle that meets monthly in Baltimore, and allows other local facilitators a chance to practice their craft.

Jonathan is also a founder and former President of the Drum Circle Facilitators Guild.

Company Logo or Facilitation/Drum Circle Image

Mission Statement

Jonathan Murray is dedicated to empowering groups of people with the ability to create beautiful, meaningful music, regardless of experience and training. Rhythm has been used for centuries in many cultures to stimulate healing, facilitate joy and foster community cohesion. Jonathan believes that group drumming and music making has deeply powerful outcomes including a feeling of connectedness, kinesthetic physical exercise, spiritual connection and fun.

Facilitation/Drum Circle Image

Target Populations

Corporate and organizational teams
Churches
Community groups
Children and families
At-risk youth
Deaf and blind groups
Well and unwell elders

Regular Drum Circles

Drumble Club - http://www.drumbleclub.com
Baltimore, MD