On Tuesday and Wednesday, November 2 and 3, Marcus Santos, a Brazilian percussionist, worked with North Yarmouth Academy (NYA) students and performed for the entire school. Santos met with several music classes and ensembles and held an intensive samba percussion class with both Middle School and Upper School students. He also performed for the entire school on Tuesday afternoon, accompanied by NYA students. 

Marcus Santos

Music Director Ian Ramsey was interested in starting a Brazilian samba group at NYA so he did some research and learned that Santos, a native of Brazil, lived and taught in Boston. He contacted Santos and took several lessons from him in Boston and then asked if he would come to NYA. “We couldn’t be more excited to have a world-class musician like Marcus here at NYA.  This is a chance for our students to learn about music and about another part of the world in a fun and dynamic way!” said Ramsey. 

The music Santos taught the students will be used on December 9 at NYA’s Middle School Evening with the Arts, which has a Brazilian theme.  At this performance, in addition to the Brazilian percussion music, all music ensembles will be playing Brazilian music and both Middle School students and Upper School students will be exhibiting Brazilian-themed artwork.

Marcus Santos with Upper School students

North Yarmouth Academy is an independent, college preparatory, coeducational day school serving students in grades five through twelve. NYA is dedicated to fostering integrity, character and intellect in young adults. For more information, please contact NYA at 207-846-2380, Ext. 423 or visit our website at www.nya.org.

[You can view some video clips of the Upper School workshop action on NYA's YouTube channel .]