On Thursday, April 24, fifth grade students from Highland put on a drum performance at Crookston High School with the help of a grant secured by Highland’s music teacher, Kristine Dickson. The grant brought in a resident musician for a month, Dr. Kenyon Williams, the Director of Percussion at Minnesota State Moorhead. “He has traveled around the world and has served as a clinician, a performer, and an artist in residence for us for the last month. We have so enjoyed learning from him,” said Dickson.
The artist-in-residency program, which Dickson says took place over the month of April, has been a rich and cultural immersion experience for the students. “It’s allowed then to experience music from another culture but also to understand how other cultures interpret music and dance,” says Dickson. “It’s been wonderful for them to see the community and collaborative component of music. So, as we’ve learned to perform with Dr. Williams, it’s been a joy to experience something we never would have been able to expose our students to without the generous grant from the Minnesota Northwest Arts Council.”
Dickson wrote for and received the grant from the Arts Council. “They not only supplied the funding needed to confirm the residency with Dr. Williams, but they also generously donated 20 Djembes,” says Dickson. “So the drums you see being played today were all donated by the Minnesota Northwest Arts Council. We are delighted; this is a partnership that we have certainly enjoyed this year and hope to see in the future.”
A large audience attended the performance, and students even brought on stage teachers and Highland’s principal, Chris Trostad, to dance to the music.
