This event is made possible by The North Star Fund, The Queens Council On the Arts with public funds from The New York State Council On the Arts, a State Agency.

Six years has passed since the outrageous verdict of 'Not Guilty' for the four LAPD officers who abused their police power on Rodney King, Jr. and the consequent uprising of Los Angeles's urban dispossessed. Although the incident was particularly devastating to the Korean American community in the area, we understand that the incident has more to do with the injustice, arising from problems, contradictions of the American urban society.

Thus, one of the lessons we take from the incident is that in order to solve the problems of the society we are living in, we have to participate in the American political system and build relationship with other minority groups. In 1998, The Center for Korean American Culture, Inc. (CKAC) is hosting a multicultural Drumming Festival called the "Global Heartbeat," which will be held on Saturday, April 25, from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM in Bowne Play Ground, located at the intersection of Union Street and Barclay Ave, Flushing, New York. It is designed to be a four-hour marathon of outdoor, cultural exchange with performances by Japanese, Brazilian, African, Andes, and Korean drum groups ending with a jam session.

This event is the 6th annual CKAC event in commemoration of 'Sa-I-Gu,' also known as Los Angeles Uprising in 1992. CKAC is hosting this festival in the hope that it will be an opportunity to create a stepping stone to building stronger solidarity among different ethnic communities. We believe this event would be a great opportunity to promote understanding and respects for the diverse communities of Flushing.

PARTICIPATING GROUP PROFILES

 MANHATTAN SAMBA GROUP

Under the direction of Ivo Araujo and Amy Duncan, this group of about twenty international percussionists blend intricate rhythms and gutsy beats with concise timing. The music they will play is called "Batucada, which is a traditional Brazilian Carnival Music that is usually played on percussion instruments during carnivals in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

 SOH DAIKO

Taiko is the Japanese word for drum, but also refers to the art of drumming. Taiko has been used for centuries as musical accompaniment to dances, as festivals and in Noh and Kabuki dramas, usually in small ensembles. In the last 1960's and 70's, Taiko began to grow within Japanese American community, largely through Buddhist Temples and community centers and has been embraced by the broader Asian American community and beyond.
Soh Daiko, the first Taiko troupe on the East Coast was established in 1979 at the New York Buddhist Church and derives its name from the pre-buddhist word meaning "Peace, Harmony and Working together." Soh Daiko has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and has been featured on Sesame Street, as well as at numerous community events such as the annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival.

 SHINMYUNG PAE

Shinmyung Pae is a performing arts group of Center for Korean American Culture, specializing in traditional & contemporary styles of Korean drumming known as poongmul. Since our inception in 1990, the Shinmyung Pae has been playing poongmul for various people throughout New York City. Rooted in the lives and experiences of Koreans living in New York City, the Shinmyung Pae articulates and represents the reality of Korean Americans through our drumming and dancing ensemble, performing at the annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival, the Harlem Church Thanksgiving Festival, Bronx Community Day, "The Rhythm Is Ours," the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence's multicultural drumming benefit, the International Festival of Arts & Ideas (New Haven), the Celebrate Brooklyn Festival (Prospect Park Bandshell), KASCON (Korean American Student Conference), and at numerous community events. The power and purpose of poongmul, is to bring people together in a spirit of kinship and celebration. Our music is part of a healing process in which people embrace rather than reject differences. In the vast, cosmopolitan Mecca of New York City, the strength of the city and its people lies in the knowledge of our pasts and the connections we have with each other in the present. Through the primal beat of drums, the Shinmyung Pae reminds people of our interconnectedness as human beings and honors the miracle of our existence.

 JAMEZ CHANG

A 2nd generation Korean American Hip Hop rapper and producer, Jamez Chang has just released his first single album, "F.O.B" through FOB Productions in December 1997. F.O.B. Productions consists of street musicologists who seek to educate young Korean Americans about their cultural heritage through music. F.O.B. Productions promotes 'Cultural literacy' by fusing folk music with hip hop. The album has three songs, 'F.O.B(Radio)', '7-Train' and 'F.O.B.(Street)' that are about the lives of Korean Americans in Flushing, New York. He is currently advocating 'Asian Pacific Renaissance movement' in redefining and creating unique immigrants culture of Asian Americans including Korean Americans. He is also involved with many community events providing free concerts and creating soundtrack for documentary of "7 Train" directed by Hye Jung Park and J.T. Takagi.

 TAHUANTINSUYO

Tahuantinsuyo, was founded in September 1973 by Guilermo Guerrero, a folk musician from Ayabaca, a small town in the northern mountains of Peru. Tahuantinsuyo (TAH-WON-TIN-SOO-YO), A Qhechua word, was the name the Incas gave to their empire. The group chose this name because it represents the culture from where the core of their music comes…the Andean Mountains. In the past the Inca Empire occupied this area, nowadays it is called Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Columbia. The group is dedicated to researching traditional music and dances from these countries in order to share them through performances and workshops. The roots of Tahuantinsuyo's music are pre-Hispanic. The rhythms, harmony structures, melodies and instruments are all part of a long tradition of music played by native South Americans.

The instruments they play are a part of a musical traditions from the Andes. Some have ancient origins such as the antara, the siku and the rondador ( three kinds of reed pan-pipes), the kena ( an end blown flute ), the tunda ( a cane traverse flute ) and the wankaras (drums made out of animal skins stretched across ends of hollowed out tree trunks) Others are more recent such as the charango ( small stringed instruments made with an armadillo shell), invented by the natives in the 18th century.