Drumming to happiness
Submitted photo
KEEPER OF THE BEAT Barbara Borden will offer a beginning drumming workshop at the Morgan Hill and Gilroy libraries.
Percussionist to lead workshop at local libraries By KIMBERLY EWERTZ FEBRUARY 28, 2020
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iscovering one’s passion can sometimes take years, but for Barbara Borden, 74, first-class percussionist, teacher, composer and subject of the documentary film, Barbara Borden: Keeper of the Beat, that discovery came very early on. Surrounded by music growing up, Borden’s love for it emerged in the form of drumming. “I had a toy drum when I was 5, and I got my first drum set when I was 10, but in between that time I used pots and pans and that worked out very well,” Borden said, smiling. “I know that when I am drumming I feel uplifted, electric, connected to everything and everyone, deeply happy.”
At 19, Borden moved to San Francisco from Los Angeles and began her career as a professional musician which has spanned more than 50 years. She’s traveled the globe as an essential member of numerous bands, “using music to strengthen and enliven the heartbeat of humanity.” When her run with the all-women jazz quintet Alive! ended Borden experienced a deep void in her life. The search to fill that void eventually led her to the Transformation Institute where she experienced a holistic body-oriented way of teaching, which inspired her to utilize her musical talents through teaching others the meditative art of drumming. “I like to teach people how to
embody the pulse, because that’s where it lives, in your body,” Borden said. “That’s my goal to have that comfortable relaxed vibe going on. When you’re relaxed you can let go a little more and your heart has a better chance of opening.” Thanks to Silicon Valley Reads, a program instituted in 2003 to promote literacy and community engagement, Borden is offering her beginning drumming workshop to the South County community. “All of us at the Gilroy Library are excited that the theme for Silicon Valley Reads this year is ‘Women Making it Happen,’” said Kelly B. Young, supervising librarian for Adult and Teen Services. Young believes Borden’s workshop is a perfect fit for this year’s theme and the community. “We know that the Gilroy community is very musical and feel sure that this drumming workshop will have a wide appeal,” she said. Borden is excited to offer this experience to a new audience as she feels there’s nothing quite like it. “The real deal is that drumming is a mood transformer and everybody who drums with me, or at least 99 percent, always feel better at the end of the drumming,” Borden said. “They feel more exhilarated and enlivened and happier.” Borden will be featured at the Morgan Hill Library on Saturday, March 7, and at the Gilroy Library on Sunday, March 8. Both workshops begin at 2pm, with each session lasting about 90 minutes. Registration is required and Borden will happily provide drums for all participants although she encourages anyone who has their own to bring it along. “It’s open to men and women and if you’ve always wanted to drum and have fun doing it come see me, and come drum with me, we’ll have a lot of fun and laugh a lot,” Borden said. For information, tinyurl.com/ wqqpkpk, tinyurl.com/w62dnt5, or call 408.842.8207.
