Percussion Seminar
The Seminar
An immersive multi-day experience for dedicated percussion students.
An immersive multi-day experience for dedicated percussion students.
The Summer Percussion Seminar is the annual in-person gathering of Yshai's global community — students from all over the world who study together online, meeting face to face for the first time, or reuniting after another year. It is held at the stunning Re-Green Echo Retreat Center in Greece, surrounded by nature, a stream, and a waterfall.
Intensive group sessions, morning and evening — deep, focused work in a concentrated format.
The seminar closes with a live duo concert by Yshai Afterman and pianist Sharon Mansur.
Every participant receives a one-on-one mini private lesson with Yshai during the seminar.
Between sessions — swimming in the stream, jamming under the trees, sharing meals. It always has a very strong sense of family.
Each day is built around intensive music-making — with plenty of time to breathe, explore the surroundings, and connect with the community.
Deep work on Yshai's original compositions — learning them, internalising them, and performing them together as an ensemble, with singing woven throughout. The voice and the hands move as one.
One of the hardest skills to develop — knowing when to play and when to stay silent, how to respond to what you hear, and how to say something genuine in real time. These sessions build the ability to truly listen, to take risks, and to find your own voice within the music.
Divided into small groups, students take on a composing task to develop across the week — then present what they've created together at the end. A chance to build something of your own, as a team.
The art of playing in service of the music — supporting a melody, a singer, a soloist. Learning to hold a groove, to leave space, and to make everyone around you sound better.
Arrivals Friday, July 31; lessons run from Saturday morning through the final session on Wednesday, August 5. Mornings and evenings are group lessons, early afternoons are one-on-one — and the rest of the day is yours.
On evenings without the workshop or concert, optional late private sessions run 21:30–22:30. Free afternoons are for swimming in the on-site waterfall, resting and practising, or driving out to the lake.
An experiential workshop exploring the deep connection between drumming and dance — and the direct relationship between them. Through the body, movement, and groove, we open another way to understand, feel, and experience rhythm.
Rhythm doesn't only live in the hands.
The session combines African dance with exercises that naturally and enjoyably connect music and movement — a bonus evening, open to everyone, no obligation to attend.
Pianist and composer — and the voice behind one of the pieces at the heart of this year's seminar. One full lesson is devoted to a composition of hers: the group learns it, internalises it, and brings it to life together.
Percussion and piano, in conversation.
The week then closes with a duo concert — Yshai Afterman and Sharon Mansur at the piano.
The seminar is exclusively for Yshai's percussion community — students who are currently studying with him, or who have studied with him in the past, in groups or privately.
Nestled in the mountains of Seliana, Achaia in the Peloponnese — two hours from Athens — Re-Green is one of Greece's most beautiful and peaceful retreat spaces. A historic stone property nestled in ancient forests, with rooms built and lovingly restored over the years by its owner — and the Krios river and a natural waterfall you can swim in right on the grounds.
Seliana, Peloponnese, Greece · Historic stone property · Natural waterfall & swimming pool · 2 hours from Athens
"Huge plane trees, birdsong, the sound of flowing water — and drums. It is an incredibly special place to make music."
— Yshai Afterman
Every place for this summer is taken. Want in next year? Follow along — Yshai's community hears the new dates first.
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