Lily May is a percussionist, music educator, composer and producer from southeast London.

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Lily founded Hit the Ground Drumming in 2014, initially providing music and movement classes in children’s centres and the community. From there, Hit the Ground Drumming moved into schools and Lily has taught class curriculum music from EYFS to KS3, developing creative schemes of work for musicianship, composition and a range of percussion playing styles.

 

She has run highly successful Brazilian percussion ensembles, nurturing young percussionist's passion and facilitating memorable performance opportunities.

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Lily has led music workshops in schools across the country and has facilitated CPD sessions for

teachers and non-music specialists at conferences and education hubs, with a focus on body percussion, Brazilian percussion and music for early years. 

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Currently Lily teaches with Beat Goes On, Drumhead and Margaret’s Music.

She is a sought after piano tutor with a distinctive teaching style. Lily aims to foster a love of

music-making with a strong emphasis on holistic musicianship, musicality and harmony.   

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In 2022 Lily was commissioned by Sing Up to compose a suite of tuned percussion pieces for the classroom. The resulting body of work - ‘Play Percussion’ was recently shortlisted for a Music and Drama Education award and is available with Sing Up.

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Lily draws from a unique pool of musical experience. She started playing piano at the age of six

and percussion soon after, playing in orchestras and symphonic bands throughout her youth.

In 2009, increasingly inspired by the rhythmic music of Pernambuco and Bahia, Lily moved to Brazil. Whilst there, she trained with the groups Baque Mulheres and Porto Rico. In London Lily has been a member of the Afro-Brazilian bands Eri-Okan, Maracatu Estrela do Norte and

Baque de Axe.

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Since 2016 Lily has been a member of the vocal and percussion collective Baque Luar.  Gathering momentum in the last few years Baque Luar perform regularly in London, at festivals and across the U.K. Recent highlights have included performances at The Southbank, The Jazz Cafe, Shambala, Landskills and Dandelion festivals.

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November 2023 saw the release of Baque Luar’s debut album Brilha, which Lily co-produced. Brilha is available on bandcamp and all streaming platforms

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Alongside her instrumental training, Lily studied audio engineering at the S.A.E and performed as a DJ throughout her twenties in London and Europe. She’s worked for record labels and production companies, nurturing artists and co-ordinating releases, promotion and live tours.

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Lily continues to write and produce her own music and is currently working on an alt pop project with her sister – Four Friends Called Janet.