Music Workshops for Children in South London
About Lily...
From the age of six, I started playing the piano, and shortly after I took up percussion. My passion for playing the drums was instantaneous, I've never looked back. Throughout my teenage years I was an active member of the Centre for Young Musicians playing classical percussion for orchestras and symphony bands. I took part in many concerts at leading venues such as the Barbican, Kenwood and the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and toured in Europe and Japan.
In 2001 I broadened my skills by studying at the School of Audio Engineering. Whilst exploring composition and production I began to record found sounds, combining with piano, percussion and vocals. I have written soundscapes for numerous video and live performance pieces.
In my early twenties, whilst working for independent record labels in London, I also worked as a DJ performing across London and Europe in clubs, bars, hotels and festivals.
In 2006 I started playing Brazilian percussion with the London School of Samba. This dramatically re-ignited my passion for instruments and live music, and opened my ears to the wonders of Brazilian music and culture, resulting in me moving to Brazil to study further and sharing the stage (or cobbled street) with a talented array of musicians and groups.
In London since 2008, I have played with Afro-Brazilian bands Eri Okan, Maracatu Estrela do Norte and Baque de Axe performing at a variety of night clubs, carnivals and events and co-facilitating educational drum workshops. Currently I play with the London based collective of female percussionists - Baque Luar.
After becoming a mother (of two) and understanding the importance of early exposure to music, I decided to set up my own company running music workshops for children. The result is Hit the Ground Drumming. Founded in 2014, the company has gone from strength to strength, earning the early acclaim of parents and experienced practitioners alike.
I have a diploma in Audio Engineering, I'm a qualified teacher of English as a second language and hold the L3 certificate for Education and Training (Music Leadership).
I train in, and study a range of music and teaching methodologies.
I am an experienced percussionist and music leader, and am still on my own fulfilling journey of growth... as if it should ever stop.
Oh! and I have a valid DBS certificate.
Lily with daughter
And son
Lily would like to thank the great teachers Ian Lawrence, John Skinner, Tony Maloney, Oli Savill, Sam Alexander, Sally McPherson, Margaret Omoniyi and Nikhil Dally for sharing their knowledge, material and passion for music.
I stumbled across this quote the other day, I feel this sums up why I love teaching music...
'Art is such a relief to us because, actually, it’s the real world — it’s the reality that we understand on a deeper level… Life has an inside as well as an outside, and at the present, the outside of life is very well catered for, and the inside of life not at all… We can go back to books or pictures or music, film, theater, and we can find there both some release and some relief for our inner life, the place where we actually live, the place where we spend so much time.' Jeanette Winterson