Mary Tolena Anderson discovered drumming and the field of drum circle facilitation in 1998 after more than 20 years as a business owner, consultant and experiential trainer in leadership, communication skills, and organizational dynamics.

Noting that drum circles portray the principles of leadership, teamwork, and creativity important for healthy communities and organizations, Mary is now pursuing her mission full-time:  Bring more rhythm to life and livelihoods:  helping people discover, explore, and make a living in the world of rhythm. 

Mary is a founding member of Rhythm Weavers, festival and drum circle organizers, and president of the Seattle World Percussion Society, producers of the Seattle World Rhythm Festival.

She is on the program curriculum team for Village Music Circles Hawaii Facilitators Playshop, a week-long drum circle facilitation training program with Arthur Hull. 

Jaqui MacMillan found her passion for African percussion in the early 1980’s.  She has since studied with many Masters, including Babatunde Olatunji, Mamady Keita, Sam Turner and at the Tam Tam Mandingue School in Washington, DC. 

Having performed and recorded with some of the top names in the business on djembe, conga and other world percussion instruments, she began sharing her joy of drumming with others by facilitating community drum circles.  She attended the 1999 Drum Circle Facilitators Playshop and the 2001 Drum Facilitators Mentor Program in Hawaii with Arthur Hull. 

Over the past 10 years, Jaqui has facilitated drum circles for corporate team building events, national conferences, elementary and high schools, hospitals, programs for “at risk” children, juvenile detention centers and programs for homeless and battered women. 

She is a founding board member of the Drum Circle Facilitators Guild (DCFG), a non-profit organization dedicated to professionalism in the field of drum circle facilitation throughout the world.  Jaqui has taught privately and given workshops around the country for over twelve years through her program, “Drum For Joy!”. 

The Washington Area Music Association, (WAMA), has awarded Jaqui the “World Music Instrumentalist Award” every year from 1995 through 2002 and she was featured in the November 2000 issue of DRUM! Magazine. 

She is currently working on a book about women drummers and is creating a drum circle program for children, which includes her own line of drums and percussion instruments.  As an endorsee of Mountain Rythym Percussion, Jaqui represented the company as a guest facilitator at the 2004 Summer NAMM in Nashville, TN and at the 2005 Percussive Arts Society International Conference, (PASIC), in Ohio. 

Her website is at: www.drumforjoy.com.

Steve Turner has been facilitating drum-circles in various settings for 11 years, from large festivals around the United States to private one on one instruction. 

His passion for playing the drum is matched only by his love for empowering others to discover the magic of drumming.

Steve also has been making West African drums for 14 years, giving him an in depth knowledge of the history and significance of the drum.

His message is this: To share the joy of drumming, and teach others to "play drums with their hearts instead of their hands"

Steve's website is www.givingtreemusic.com

Lelah Wright is a spirited drummer who has been drumming in many different areas around the country for 13 years.

She has experience with both traditional African as well as Middle Eastern rhythms.

She has played in large drum jam settings and sat in on intimate ensembles performing with many instruments in various styles.

Her passion for rhythm and percussion is coupled with her love for sharing the magic of the drum.

Lelah’s experience with drum circles have taught her the importance of gentle guidance to bring everyone in the circle up, elevating them in the rhythm. She also likes to play not only with external instruments, but also loves to play the instrument we all possess- our voice. Vocal “percussion” and song are some of her favorite forms of expression, and they’re easy to master (we’re already thoroughly familiar with the instrument!)

Lelah has spent the last 13 years traveling the country running a successful business in the Renaissance Festival circuit. She has made a big change this year by moving to south Georgia with her husband and 1 year old son. There she can help care for her mom who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s last year.

Lelah is committed to sharing the magic of the drum with her new community and the surrounding area. Rhythm is in us and all around us and through the drum Lelah believes we can empower ourselves, one beat at a time.

Neysa Lettin, of HappyPeopleDrumming, retired in 2003 after 31 years of teaching general music at the elementary level. As a consummate singer and performer, drumming never entered her mind until the summer of 2001 when she attended a "Unity with a Beat" weekend workshop with Arthur Hull and Micky Hart. With her first drum circle experience being 750 people strong, there was no turning back.

Since 2001, Neysa has attended three Hawaii playshops with Arthur Hull, several Alchemy playshops and has become a Health Rhythms provider. She has attended the Seattle World Rhythm Festival for five years straight, and as a member of PASIC, attends the yearly conventions. In the winter of 2006, she was a staff member of the NewRhythmsFoundation and attended the World Parkinson Congress where she assisted with drum circles offered to the Parkinson patients and caregiver attendees.

Neysa is an active drum circle facilitator in the Denver, Colorado area. She provides rhythm based events to schools, churches, community and health care. Her passion is hospice work and recently conducted a morning workshop for hospice voluneeters.

Her mission is to bring happiness and joy to people by helping them rediscover, through drumming, their inner child, their playfulness and the importance of our heartbeat and how it connects each and every one of us to each other and the world in which we live.