GLOBAL RHYTHM SANGHA –
ONE YEAR ONLINE COMMUNITY LEARNING EXPERIENCE
** 21.0 pre-approved CMTEs for Music Therapists through CBMT
Description:
With over 30 yrs experience teaching drumming for healing and wellness, Christine Stevens, MSW, MT-BC has created a Global Rhythm Sangha featuring world-class teachers and rhythms for maintaining a juicy drumming practice to bring joy, happiness & creativity into your life. Now in its 6th year, this course provides CEUs for music therapist, CEUs for sound healing practitioners, and great songs, chants and rhythms for drum circle facilitators and drummers.
Features of the course:
Sangha is a Sanskrit word for a community of practitioners in a shared tradition. Within the sacred lineage of drumming, we want to create a worldwide community of support, sharing, and teaching to continue our rhythmic path – in service to global awakening.
Using zoom.us, we will hold monthly teachings followed by breakout rooms to get to know other people in the Sangha. We will also offer open practicum times monthly where students can gather and meet each other, to practice the world rhythms.
The course features world rhythms from drum masters, detailed hand-outs, the private Facebook group – optional, and all video and audio recordings with permanent access and download capability.
Continuing Education Credits for Music Therapists – There are no pre-requisites to receive CEUs from this course, apart from being a music therapist. Global Rhythm Sangha is approved by the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT) for 21.0 continuing music therapy education credits. UpBeat Drum Circles, P-208, maintains responsibility for program quality and adherence to CBMT policies and criteria.
DATES: Two Sessions per Month *Always Recorded for Your Access*
Teaching Sessions – 2nd Saturday of Month @ 12pm Pacific Time USA
Practice Sessions – 4th Saturday of Month @12pm Pacific Time USA
Master Teachers for 2026:
January 31 – Christine Stevens – Welcome Drum Circle & Hand Drum Basics
February 14 – Ju Linares – Samba Reggae from Brazil (Carnival!)
March 14 – Fredy PumaQuispe Singona – Andean Folkloric Drumming – LIVE from Peru
April 11 – Roberto Gutierrez – Rumba Guaguanco Latin Rhythm
May 9 – Sule Greg Wilson – West African Djembe Drumming
June 13 – Carolyn Brandy – Mozambique Afro-Cuban Rhythm
July 11 – Windwalker Dorn – Native American Shamanic Drumming
August 14 – Frank Lazarro – Ecstatic Rhythms from Egypt
September 12 – Kristina Sophia – Nubian Rhythms from Aswan for Peace
October 10 – John de Kadt – Devotional Drumming from India
November 14 – Christine Stevens – Rhythm Review of All Teachers
December 12 – Christine Stevens – Meditative Drumming for Holiday Stress
GLOBAL RHYTHM SANGHA 2026 TEACHER BIOS
Christine Stevens, Upbeat Drum Circles, Host is the author of Music Medicine, The Nature Sutras, and The Healing Drum Kit. The founder of UpBeat Drum Circles, she has appeared on NBC, PBS, Discovery Health and is on the faculty for The Shift Network. As a Musical Ambassador of Peace, Christine led the first drum circle training in a war-zone in northern Iraq. She teaches online training programs including Awaken Your Rhythm which has served hundreds of people from over 35 countries.
Ju Linares. Jú’s journey began when she met Arthur Hull at the Hawaii Playshop in 2006. Together with Mary Tolena, they founded Rhythm Expansion which became Ritmo Expansão in Brazil. Jú has taught drumming in the Bay Area public schools, and is a certified Music Together teacher. Jú has taught workshops and played with Brazilian music groups in the Bay Area, Seattle, São Paulo, and Salvador, Brazil. She has conducted workshops in USA, Brazil, India, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and Indonesia. She is also the co-author of the book The Art of Human Development.
Fredy Puma Quispe Singona Fredy “Puma” Quispe Singona is a Peruvian shaman from Cusco who was trained by his grandfather, Don Maximo, in Andean ceremonies and rituals since he was a very young boy. Puma is recognized as a holder of ancient lineage and known for the reverence and love he brings for Pachamama (Mother Earth) and the mountain spirits (Apus) that safeguard the Andean people. He is a co-founder of Cusi Huayna, a youth group focused on the remembrance of traditional dance, story and songs. As a tour guide to the sacred sites of Peru and the Quechua world, he has a gift for introducing people to the music and traditions of the ancient Andean cultures.
Roberto Gutierrez Robert has been a drum circle facilitator for over 30 years with his company, Untied Drum Circles. He is also a professional percussionist with the Latin trio Ostia in the Los Angeles area. He works with schools, organizations, and private events for diversity, teamwork and unity through drumming. Roberto has served as an instructor and program manager at Los Angeles Valley College during the day, while he pursues his love of drumming on the side, which became his full-time focus since his retirement.
Instagram: @uniteddrumcircles
Sule Greg Wilson (Past Presenter) Sule Greg Wilson is the author of The Drummer’s Path (1992). From an early age, he became part of the premier African dance company and represented the U.S. at the Palace in Kumasi, Ghana. He has been on the vanguard of sharing authentic and spirited percussion to the world. Proficient in U.S., Celtic, Caribbean, and Mande music, Súle has also delved into Indian, Indonesian, and numerous African, Middle Eastern, and European traditions. He carries on the tradition via his Drumpath Rhythms and Become the Drum workshops, seminars, performances, and live and online tutorials, as well as his studies on the African origin of the banjo.
Carolyn Brandy (Past Presenter) Carolyn is a percussionist, composer, educator, performer, cultural worker, and mom. She started playing the conga drums in 1968 and has been a pioneer in opening doors for women in the world of Afro-Cuban percussion. She has led six tours to the Island of Cuba to study music and dance with masters of Afro-Cuban folkloric music. She has a degree in music from Holy Names University in Oakland. It can be easy to read through these achievements, but when one thinks of how women have been excluded from the drum, each step of Carolyn’s work has come as a result of great courage and persistence.
Windwalker Dorn (Past Presenter) Windwalker Dorn is a Grammy-nominated singer, Native American flute player, drummer and two-time winner of Native American Music Awards. Windwalker was born of the Mi’maq, Cherokee and Lenape people, and raised learning medicinal herbs and techniques to heal the inner waters from her Mi’maq grandmother. The founder of MCW – a women’s traditional drum group, MultiCultural Women’s Drum, she has been a cultural teacher/performer for the San Diego Center for World Music, offering school assemblies on Native American music, as well as offering community healing and ceremonial experience. Windwalker lives on a horse property in New Mexico and travels internationally, including the Amsterdam Cultural Music Festival.
Frank Lazarro (Past Presenter)Frank Lazzaro began playing a rock drum set during High School on Long Island. Upon moving to San Diego in 1986, he formed The Travel Agents which is a great play on words, since Frank is actually a travel agent himself. Frank’s world percussion studies began with djembe masters Baba Olatunji, Lamine “Dibo” Camara, Paulo Mattioli and Mamady Keita. Moving into Middle Eastern drumming, he teaches at The Worldbeat Cultural Center in San Diego and leads two Middle-East ensembles, Middle-Earth Ensemble and Cairo Beats. Frank works with Darbuka Planet, importing instruments from Egypt and Turkey. His recorded CDs include Middle Eastern Rhythms, Damaru and Middle Earth Ensemble. He lives in Encinitas, CA.
Kristina Sophia Kristina Sophia is a sound healer and world traveler who specializes in Arabic Music, both singing and drumming on doumbek and frame drum. A graduate of the prestigious Naropa University,he is the co-founder of Musical Ambassadors of Peace, an organization which formed after her travels to Iraq in 200. Together with her late husband Cameron Powers, they sang Arabic love songs on the streets of the war zone and performed in Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Panama, Venezuela, Mexico and across the U.S. Her CDs include Singing in Baghdad, Arabic Nights, and Dancing with Your Soul.
John de Kadt is an internationally acclaimed percussionist, poet, and storyteller. He is a founding member and producer of many CDs with the devotional group The Hanumen. A graduate of the Ali Akbar School of Music, John has studied percussion in India, Turkey, Brazil, Africa, Cuba, and Columbia. His drumming CDs include This Rhythm Is Not Mine in 2005, Eight, One River and Speak. John has performed with Glen Velez, Robert Bly, Baba Olatunji, Colman Barks, David Darling, Jai Uttal, and many others. He has performed live on NBC and PBS. John is appreciated for his percussion talent, combining cajon and frame drum, humor, and poetic inspiration.
