Watch You Tube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXyN7vzRBHI
Rhythm Traders Presents: Oregon Big Beat
Fundraiser for Local Area School Music Departments
Sunday, November 6, 2011 11 am - 6:00 pm
Ambridge Event Center AND in 14 Other U.S. Cities
The rumble of drums will spread across 15 cities nationally as a part of the Second Annual Oregon Big Beat on Sunday November 6, 2011. The event is a fundraiser for local area schools, and to collect canned food for hungry Oregon families – just in time for the holidays. The Oregon Big Beat is a partnership between local drum shop Rhythm Traders, as well as Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, the Oregon Food Bank, and well over a thousand drummers nationally who are literally providing hands-on support to keep music alive in our schools. The event takes place from 11 am to 6:00 pm at the Ambridge Event Center located at 1333 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Portland, Oregon, 97232 (and also in 14 other cities). All ages, all skill levels, all sizes of people and drums are invited to attend this fun-filled day of percussion with clinics, performances, generous product give-aways, raffles, a silent auction, drumming contests, participation in a world record attempt, and the world premier performance of Bobby Torres’ Convergence III featuring many of Portland’s professional drummers. At last year’s event, 435 pounds of canned food was collected. And, in partnership with the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, Parkrose Middle School used the funds to purchase new instruments including a new orchestral xylophone. Suggested donation: Participants $10.00 PLUS 2 cans of food; Families: $20.00 PLUS 2 cans of food; Spectators: $5.00 PLUS 2 cans of food.
About the World Record Attempt: 15 U.S. cities are simultaneously participating in this fund raising event to benefit their local area schools. Imagine, over 1600 drummers across the U.S. playing the same groove in unison all for one great cause. At 2:45 pm – West Coast time – event participants in each city will join in a world record attempt of the Largest Mass-Drumming Performance Ever Attempted in the U.S. This feat will be achieved through a live-streaming internet connection. Conductors in each city will direct participants to play the same score of music as they follow a live-feed of the lead conductor in Seattle. Brian Davis, drummer in Pink Martini will be the Portland Director.
Note: Last year, Oregon Big Beat’s assemblage of drums from the far corners of the world was so numerous that national organizers created a new Hand-Drum category. Brad Boynton, OBB Director and Owner of Rhythm Traders said “I feel like Portland not only personalized the event, but also served as a model for the rest of the country in our diversity and respect for culture. The drum is essentially a symbol of that." Learn more at http://www.rhythmtraders.com/html/bigbeat.html
