Resound VA - Handpan Residency & Concert
Tue, 12 Mar 2024 (EDT)
05:30PM - 09:00PM
Living Waters Community Center
1000 Westover Hills Blvd
Richmond, Virginia 23225
Join Resound Richmond, a World Percussion residency and concert
featuring renowned players and teachers from around the world.
We are hosting two events in partnership with the Healing Pan Project.
Early evening Workshops based on desired skill level.
An evening Concert featuring Resound Handpan House
The workshops and concert to be held at Living Water Community Center in Richmond, VA in
their Sound Sanctuary.
Workshop
The workshops will range from beginner to advanced, and all levels are encouraged to join. We
will provide different level classes based on experience. For those who do not own a handpan but
would like to join, Handpans will be available to use at no additional cost. If you own a handpan
or hand drum, please bring it as we do have a limited amount.
Evening Concert
The Resound concert presentation features North American and Internationally recognized
handpan artists. We invite you to feel a vibration beyond borders as an international collective of
handpan artists come together in a one-of-a-kind musical collaboration. As the evening unfolds,
the group will perform pieces highlighting both their own unique style and the collaborative
magic that happens when artists create together.
This concert is part of a handpan residency in Richmond, VA. To learn more about joining and
learning from these masterful artists, please visit: https://www.viewcy.com/o/resoundva
Schedule
5:00- 6:30 PM WORKSHOP feat Sofi Dias, Michael Akortia, Dan Mulqueen, Adam Maalouf - The Art of Collaboration – Resound Handpan House
7:00 PM CONCERT.
Teachers & Performers:
Adam Maalouf: The creator behind Resound, Maalouf is inspired by uncovering new
possibilities in the world of singing steel. Composing with handpan, world percussion, cello, and
a variety of other instruments, Maalouf forms an East-West blend bridging his Lebanese-
American heritage with his training in classical music, jazz and world music.
www.adammaalouf.com
Dan Mulqueen: Dan's playing style is both beautifully melodic and intensely percussive. While
keeping the handpan as the centerpiece of his compositions, his stylistic approach invites the
listener to experience elements of multiple genres of music.
www.danmulqueen.com
Sofia Dias - Miami based multi-instrumentalist Sofia Dias graduated from Miami Dade College in Music Education. Sofia focuses on world percussion and has been involved in various music projects in her community ever since. As a handpan artist, Sofia utilizes the handpan in music performance, education and music therapy. Sofi is part of Miami’s very own samba percussion community MiamiBloco since 2019, paying respect to her Brazilian heritage.
www.sofiadiasmusic.com
featuring renowned players and teachers from around the world.
We are hosting two events in partnership with the Healing Pan Project.
Early evening Workshops based on desired skill level.
An evening Concert featuring Resound Handpan House
The workshops and concert to be held at Living Water Community Center in Richmond, VA in
their Sound Sanctuary.
Workshop
The workshops will range from beginner to advanced, and all levels are encouraged to join. We
will provide different level classes based on experience. For those who do not own a handpan but
would like to join, Handpans will be available to use at no additional cost. If you own a handpan
or hand drum, please bring it as we do have a limited amount.
Evening Concert
The Resound concert presentation features North American and Internationally recognized
handpan artists. We invite you to feel a vibration beyond borders as an international collective of
handpan artists come together in a one-of-a-kind musical collaboration. As the evening unfolds,
the group will perform pieces highlighting both their own unique style and the collaborative
magic that happens when artists create together.
This concert is part of a handpan residency in Richmond, VA. To learn more about joining and
learning from these masterful artists, please visit: https://www.viewcy.com/o/resoundva
Schedule
5:00- 6:30 PM WORKSHOP feat Sofi Dias, Michael Akortia, Dan Mulqueen, Adam Maalouf - The Art of Collaboration – Resound Handpan House
7:00 PM CONCERT.
Teachers & Performers:
Adam Maalouf: The creator behind Resound, Maalouf is inspired by uncovering new
possibilities in the world of singing steel. Composing with handpan, world percussion, cello, and
a variety of other instruments, Maalouf forms an East-West blend bridging his Lebanese-
American heritage with his training in classical music, jazz and world music.
www.adammaalouf.com
Dan Mulqueen: Dan's playing style is both beautifully melodic and intensely percussive. While
keeping the handpan as the centerpiece of his compositions, his stylistic approach invites the
listener to experience elements of multiple genres of music.
www.danmulqueen.com
Sofia Dias - Miami based multi-instrumentalist Sofia Dias graduated from Miami Dade College in Music Education. Sofia focuses on world percussion and has been involved in various music projects in her community ever since. As a handpan artist, Sofia utilizes the handpan in music performance, education and music therapy. Sofi is part of Miami’s very own samba percussion community MiamiBloco since 2019, paying respect to her Brazilian heritage.
www.sofiadiasmusic.com
Michael Akortia: From a French-Ghanaian family of musicians, this certified jam hunter has
been drumming since the age of six. Through years of practice and music study, Michael has
cultivated a unique style that has earned him the nickname “groove master” in Japan.
www.michaelakortia.com
The Handpan is a hybrid percussion instrument that combines both, aspects from the steel pan
from Trinidad, as well as the clay drum named "Ghatam" from South India.
Brief History of the Handpan
Most people agree that the founders of the handpan are Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer of
PANArt Hangbau AG in Bern, Switzerland. The two were career steel pan builders as well as
inventors of multiple other musical instruments. Felix started building steel pans in Switzerland
in 1976 and supplied many instruments for the steel bands that arose in the country in the 1980’s
and 1990’s.
In the late 1990’s, Reto Weber, a hand percussionist, came to Felix and Sabina and had the idea
of changing a steel pan into a “sounding pot in steel with some notes to play with the hands”.
The idea was to mix the sound of the South India Ghatam with the sound of a steel pan. The
word “Hang” came from the Bernese German word for “Hand.”