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ABOUT DRUMCAFE SOUTH AFRICA

For hundreds of years, drumming has proven to be the most effective team building activity in all cultures.

The beginning
The Drum Cafe was started in Johannesburg in 1994 by Warren Lieberman. (Bsc Elec Eng) Moved by the experience of communal drumming, he soon had a small group of friends coming round to his home every Tuesday evening to exchange ideas and share in the unique experience of interactive drumming. The word spread, and it was not long before over one hundred people were arriving to join the circle. The concept of a Drum Cafe was born.

Drum Cafe Opened
Warren went on to study djembe drumming with master drummer Adama Drame and become an internationally qualified drum facilitator. Soon after, he opened the Drum Cafe in Johannesburg. A casual little shop with a quaint restaurant and small stage, people flocked to see the new attraction and be inspired by groundbreaking performers. Drums were sold, repaired and traded, coffee was consumed, great ideas were discussed and what began as an enthusiastic idea evolved into a reality.

End of Apartheid
After apartheid ended companies needed to bring people of different races together. There was a lot of anger, mistrust and fear.  Drum Cafe found that by drumming together, the fear, anger and mistrust was replaced by trust, respect and a sense of community. It was very hard to hate someone after you have just made music and celebrated together. Drum cafe was so successful in uniting people that soon almost every company in South Africa used us to bring their staff together. We toured the country bringing people of different races, ages and gender together. Drum Cafe has since become experts at uniting people and breaking cultural barriers.

Helping the world come together.
The Drum Cafe soon became a success in Africa, and began accepting numerous invitations to perform for major corporations internationally. So high was the demand for the product that in 2002 it opened a number of branches worldwide, including all over America, Asia, Australia, Canada, Germany and the UK. The Drum Cafe is now synonymous with interactive drumming and team building events (where everyone beats along with us). We have astounded audiences by transforming groups into percussive orchestras within minutes. We are also one of Southern Africa’s leading entertainment agencies and have access to the richest talent in South Africa and the artistic expertise and eye to match the perfect performance to your needs.

Warren Lieberman
(Top Left) with the cast of Drumstruck and Dolly Parton.

Warren has a BSc Physics and Applied Maths BSc Honors in Electrical Engineering and has a Completed conversion course to BCom. Warren started the Drum Cafe from his home in 1997. During the past few years, the Drum Cafe has performed at the corporate functions of nearly every major company in South Africa. In 2001 Warren wrote Drumstruck, a world renown Broadway show. His work at the Drum Cafe has instigated a shift in business practice from that which is centred on the individual to that which is centered on the group community.

Mpho Rasenyalo

Mpho is the lead facilitator of Drum Cafe Johannesburg. Born in Soweto Mpho Rasenyalo is the Drum Café’s lead facilitator and has been with Drumstruck since 2005. She is an outstanding all round performer, she is South Africa’s best female djembe player, she has her own marimba band called Basadi and she is also a qualified traditional healer. She has toured with Drumstruck in Japan and China and was a cast member for the year and a half run of Drumstruck on Off-Broadway’s Dodgers Stages now known as New World Stages. Mpho has a unique gift of uniting and leading an audience.

Tumelo Seleke

Tumelo Seleke, Drumstruck’s Dance Captain, is a singer, dancer, actor, choreographer and a drummer! He started dancing at a very young age at the African Theatre and Dance Co. then later moved on to join Africa Umoja to perform professionally as a theatre practitioner. He has performed in over 30 countries all over the world. He has worked with the Drum Café doing the Shebeen Show then grew to become a Drummer in the venture to be a facilitator. He recently stared in the hit musical African Footprint doing a season In Dubai December 2019.

Bronwyn Dillon

Born and raised in South Africa, graduated from UNISA after completing a BCom degree and joined the Drum Cafe Johannesburg team in 2001. Bronwyn has been with the team ever since and manages Drum Cafe International as well as Drumstruck and is an integral part of the organisation. With a passion for uniting and uplifting people from all walks of life and all cultures, Drum Cafe and Drumstruck is the perfect fit. Having organised thousands of events for corporates, schools and non profit organizations both locally and internationally, being organised is an assist that Bronwyn embraces.

Brett Schlesinger

Has a Bachelors in Arts English and Psychology, University of Witwatersrand Bachelor of Music Therapy, University of Cape Town Brett Schlesinger is one of the owners of Drum Cafe. He has been a drum circle facilitator for 14 years and has been drumming for 35 years.His work has taken him across all aspects of drumming from performance drumming to music therapy and finally to interactive sessions for business.Having facilitated over 2000 events in 30 countries, he brings a wealth of experience in group energy to Drum Cafe

Richard Carter

Richard Carter, known as  “Malume” (“Uncle”), graduated from the Cape Town University with a BA in Performing Arts in 1979, majoring in Theatre Performance and Fine Art History. Richard has studied and toured with master drummer Adama Drame and Foliba in the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. He has taught percussion extensively and performed with many pop, jazz and African artists. He has collaborated with all of South Africa’s major dance companies. He was a composer and Musical Director of Drumming for the South African hit musical “African Footprint”.  Between tours of Drumstruck he works at Drum Café Johannesburg as a Creative Director and Production manager.

Contact Drum Cafe for more information on the details below or request a free quote by clicking the button below:
011 493 0809, or e-mail: info@drumcafe.com

Meet the awesome people

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Kevin Miller
CEO
Lauren Wang
Managing Director
Jeffrey Green
General Manager
Steve Alan
Creative Director
Jake Hallaway
Chief Designer
Stephanie Simson
Editorial Manager
Ian Gordon
HR Manager
Lee Xin
Associate HR Manager