Yari Mander has been a professional music educator for over 15 years. He is also a professional drummer who has performed with Keith Terry, Reverend Michael Beckwith, Rickie Byars-Beckwith, Agape Choir, Chochmat HaLev band, Joan Baez, Maracatu Luta, One World Music, and Gamelan X. His clear and supportive teaching style has been honed by years of teaching children and adults, influenced by Orff-Schulwerk-a somatic approach to music education-and his studies of African musical pedagogy in Ghana, West Africa. He is also very interested in intersection of nature, culture and spirituality and is fully engaged in the integration of these paths. Yari also likes to hike, climb mountains and pick rasberries.