Performances & Classes

Events & Workshops

Beginner Doumbec Classes - Click here for flyer
every other Saturday, 2:00 - 3:30pm
Starting June 14, 2008, Oakland, CA

RHYTHM ESSENCE & FINGER CYMBAL WORKSHOP - Click here for flyer
SUNDAY AFTERNOON, September 28, 2008 IN OAKLAND

Presented by Mary Ellen Donald

She is a nationally acclaimed author, instructor, and performer in Middle Eastern percussion for over 30 years.

Purpose of Workshop:
To strengthen your understanding of the rhythms and music that you dance and play cymbals to.

If you want to be good, there is no substitute for knowing the music!

Workshop content:
1. exercises to strengthen cymbal technique
2. basic music theory
3. connecting movement and cymbals
4. solid work with some members of the “Baladi family of rhythms”. . baladi, maqsoum, “walking” maqsoum, and saidi. Plus the wahida.

Time: 11:00 – 2:30pm
Fee: $65.00
Details and registration, call (510) 654-(DRUM) 3786

Sunday, October 19, 2008
Middle-Eastern Treasures Concert - Click here for flyer
Afternoon of Music, Drumming And Dancing

Presented by Mary Ellen Donald, nationally acclaimed author
Instructor & performer of Middle-Eastern percussion for over 30 years.

Featuring:
Nazir Latouf: oud (Arabic lute), vocals
Mary Ellen Donald: doumbec, riqq (tambourine), tar (frame drum)
Medjool: music from Anatolia and the Near East with Kevin Cloud, Mary Ellen
Donald, Uzbeki Doyra (frame drum) player, Salokhiddin Fakhriev & dances by Rasa

Belly Dance by Mandanah
Danceversity Youth Performance Company:
directed by Hannah Romanowsky, saidi cane dance
Mary Ellen Donald & The Quartz Crystals: jazz surprises
Doumbec & Tambourine Ensemble
Tar & Cymbal Ensemble
Audience Dancing

Time: 2:00 to 5:15 pm
Location: Humanist Hall, 390 27th Street, between Broadway/Telegraph, Oakland
(for directions visit http://www.humanisthall.org)
Fee: $16.00, includes a variety of wines and beverages with light snacks
$8.00 for children under 12

For more details visit www.maryellendonald.com or call (510)654-DRUM (3786)

Rave Review for Mary Ellen's Birthday Bash
Sunday, August 12, 2007, Oakland, CA

Hello Mary Ellen,

WOW! Your Birthday Bash at Humanist Hall was the most amazing musical feast EVER! I do not want to forget to thank you ever so much for celebrating your birthday at Humanist Hall!

It was such a fantastic, spectacular, world class, music and dance phenomenon. The music was so gorgeous. Your medley, your song about summertime, was the best tribute to summer I've EVER heard. It was so beautiful and haunting, it gave me goose bumps. And the belly dancer was out of this world, pure liquid, pure magic. Your music and song, and her dancing, were all so wonderfully creative and eclectic and captivating -- it was impossibly enjoyable -- hard to describe -- completely fulfilling!

Thank you again! I have the deepest appreciation for your music!

~ Fellowship of Humanity

Middle Eastern Percussion Classes with Mary Ellen Donald
- Middle Eastern Percussion Classes
- Beginner Doumbec Classes

Booking

Sittat al Qalb (Women of the Heart)
Mary Ellen Donald: Cymbals, Doumbec, Tambourine and Tar &
Nanna Candelaria: Belly Dance
In an educational and entertaining drum and dance duo! Available for performances in schools K-12 through out the San Francisco Bay Area. Call Young Audiences of California at 415-974-5554 to learn how to book this uplifting presentation for schools in your area!

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Hot Arabic Band For Hire!

Nazir Latouf, from Syria: oud and voice; Mary Ellen Donald: doumbec; and a first rate tambourinist, either Terry Holgate or Susie Goldenstein.

A perfect Arabic band for any occasion: private parties, belly dance recitals, world music concerts, Arab weddings and Arabic cultural events.

Nazir's extraordinarily rich repertoire spanning the entire Arab world, Mary Ellen's mastery of Arabic drumming and the charismatic, passionate playing of the two of them together make sparks fly and audiences beg for more.

Call Mary Ellen to hire the band that aims to please and does: 510-654-DRUM (3786) Check out sound bites from Nazir's CD "Arabian Passion", elsewhere on this site and video clips from "the Silk Road Experience" DVD also on this site to see for yourself.

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Mary Ellen Donald is available for out of town workshops and shows. For more information, call Mary Ellen at (510) 654-DRUM (3786) or send e-mail to: me@maryellendonald.com

Listen to a live performance of Nazir Latouf and Mary Ellen Donald.

To hear a song sample, click on Listen
Ahla Tarik (The Sweetest Path) - Egyptian Melody	Listen	Listen
Oud Taqsim by Nazir Latouf	Listen	Listen
Allah Allah Ya Baba	Listen	Listen