Jaqui MacMillan is a percussionist, educator, and visual artist with over 40 years of experience in African drumming. She began her journey in the early 1980s, studying with masters like Babatunde Olatunji, Mamady Keita, and Mahiri Fadjimba Keita at Tam Tam Mandingue in Washington, D.C. A seasoned performer and recording artist, Jaqui eventually turned to teaching, founding her long-running program, Drum For Joy!™. She has led workshops and drum circles across the U.S. for schools, conferences, corporations, and community programs, including work with at-risk youth and women’s shelters. A founding member of the Drum Circle Facilitators Guild (DCFG), she also trained with Arthur Hull in Hawaii and represented REMO and Mountain Rythym at major music events like NAMM and PASIC in Nashville, Ohio and Seattle. Jaqui received the WAMA (Washington Area Music Award) for “World Music Instrumentalist” from 1995 to 2002 and was featured in DRUM! Magazine’s women drummers issue. After 20 years in Washington DC, she is now based in Westminster, MD, where she runs Magnolia House Studios. She is also an award-winning visual artist who believes in the healing power of art and music.

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