Brenda Myers
Telephone: 559-297-1506
Fax: 559-299-8182
Email: wegotthebeat@comcast.net
What programs do you teach in?
- Music. Specifically, percussion lessons and orchestral percussion skills education class.
Education
- B.A., music performance, California State University, Fresno
- Teaching credential, Fresno Pacific University
- M.A, West African/Caribbean music and culture, Fresno Pacific University
Share why you teach at FPU
- I have always appreciated FPU’s policy of helping students pursue their passion. I love being part of a faculty where students really do come first.
Scholarly interests
- African history and African music history
Professional and service experiences
- I have taught percussion privately and in the schools for over 30 years. I have taught at the elementary, junior high and high school levels, as well as the community college and university levels.
- I have played in professional orchestras, big bands, combos, churches and theatres. I currently play in an African-drumming performance group that performs for schools and community events.
- I direct a Christian African-worship-drumming group. We give presentations in local churches as well as community events.
- I teach a mission and worship class through the Fresno School of Missions. In this class we study the Psalms and then compose a song using the words of the Psalm or a response to the Psalm. We set the words to an African melody, learn the drumming rhythms that accompany the melody, and learn a dance to the song in an African style.
- I also direct a youth percussion band called We Got The Beat. We play classic jazz, rock, Latin and Brazilian tunes on percussion instruments.
Professional affiliations
- I am a long-standing member of the Percussive Arts Society.
