Jan 30, Monday

Leon Mobley is Coming Back Soon

Leon Mobley: “Around the World and Home Again.”

The Dover PTO is pleased to welcome home a Chickering alumni as the 2012 artist-in-residence. Leon Mobley, world-renowned drummer, will be returning to Chickering School on Monday, January 30, 2012 for a week of exploration of West African culture. Leon will work with students in music, chorus, band, and gym classes in preparation of a performance which will celebrate African-American History Month on February 3, 2012.

Leon's Mobley's story is compelling on many levels. The first METCO student to attend Chickering School, Leon spent many years weathering the elements at 5:00 am to get from the Cathedral Housing Projects in Roxbury, to school in Dover. His career with the Dover schools came during the height of Boston's tumultuous era of desegregation and at a time when the small town was regularly targeted by protesters, as then-Governor Frank Sargent was a resident.

Chickering was a special place for Leon. Indeed, he offers, "Without Chickering School, there would be no Leon Mobley." At a very young age, Leon was also enrolled in the Elma Lewis School of the Fine Arts in Boston providing programs for local African-American children. Back then, Leon dreamed of being an actor. In 1973, he became an original cast member of the Emmy award-winning and ground-breaking children's television show, ZOOM, filmed at WGBH. Music, however, was his calling. Leon is a protégé of legendary Nigerian drummer, Babatunde Olatunji, and has worked with the most-noted recording artists our time - Mick Jagger, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Dave Mathews.

He has performed at Wembley Stadium, for Nelson Mandela, and on Saturday Night Live. He was a featured artist on last season's American Idol. Leon returns from the recent Distant Relative Tour with Reggae / Hip-Hop artists Damian Marley and Nas, ready to continue the his personal legacy of giving through music and education. Leon has been a "signature series artist" for Remo World Percussion Inc., the marquee drum manufacturers who have produced his personally-designed Djembe drums for the last 20+ years.

His commitment to West African drumming and education has touched the lives of hundreds of youth in Los Angeles and audiences around the world. His vision of, “creating Common-Unity, heart to heart, one drum at a time” is the fuel that fires this event to reach far beyond the Dover community.

Leon Mobley's visit is fully funded by the Dover PTO as part of its Curriculum Enrichment Program.