Ubaka Hill is a Performer, Master Teacher, and Inspirational Speaker based in New York, USA. With over 30 years of experience, she is a dynamic performer, composer, songwriter, recording artist, public speaker, and educator specializing in hand drumming, sharing her passion across the United States and internationally. Ubaka expresses her mission as a desire "to facilitate and inspire personal transformation, empowerment, healing, and joy with music that moves you."
In her performances, Ubaka skillfully blends percussion, poetry, and song, creating a positive and uplifting atmosphere for diverse audiences wherever she teaches and performs. She showcases her talents as a solo artist as well as with her ensemble, RHYTHM DANCE, which features a multi-instrumental and multi-cultural group of talented musicians.
Her music is distinctive, incorporating multiple styles to form authentic, melodic, and rhythmic compositions that range from sacred to secular and ancient to contemporary. Through her live performances and recorded works, Ubaka reflects evolving drumming traditions, beliefs, and the changing times. Her repertoire includes vocals and spoken word poetry, alongside instruments such as the Djembe, Ube, Conga, Ashiko drums, Didgeridoo, Udu, and various percussion instruments.
As a hand drumming instructor, Ubaka's primary objective is to inspire and empower her students, stimulating joy through music. She creates environments that reconnect participants with ancient wisdom and drumming traditions, using sound as a means for personal transformation, healing, and celebration. Her teachings encourage active participation in community drum circles and group music-making, fostering recognition and appreciation of the evolving women’s drumming culture.
Ubaka is dedicated to making the art of drumming accessible to individuals of all skill levels, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing. She has developed her signature teaching and performance format, the Drumsong Workshops, which have welcomed hundreds of participants. In addition, she founded and directs The Drumsong Orchestra, performing alongside workshop participants.
Her workshops cater to people of all ages and physical abilities, extending across the United States—including Hawaii and Alaska—and internationally to Canada, Australia, and Japan. They take place in various venues, such as local, national, and international music festivals, community centers, healthcare facilities, holistic retreat centers, coffeehouses, conferences, and concert halls.
Ubaka captivates audiences of any size with her compassionate and engaging presence, whether performing solo or with an ensemble. Her rhythmic and lyrical expressions draw inspiration not only from her personal experiences but also from the stories of many. She shares her resonating voice and the voice of the drum in diverse settings, including street gatherings, healing circles, theater productions, and educational institutions.
Throughout her career, Ubaka has been featured in major holistic health and healing publications, documentaries, academic research, and local news outlets, including Eco Heroes, The Chronogram, In The Footsteps of the Goddess, Eden Built By Eves, The Courage To Be, Omega Institute Wisdom Channel, and Gathering of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. She is also an artist featured in the award-winning documentary "Radical Harmonies."
In addition to her musical endeavors, Ubaka has a natural talent for oil painting, which she has pursued for 30 years. Her fine art has been sold, exhibited, and made into prints and note cards, alongside her work in drum-related arts and crafts.
Ubaka co-designed the "Ubaka Hill Signature Drum - The UBE!" with Raven Tekwe of Wing of the Heron Drums. This drum, inspired by her Djembe from Mali, was first introduced to the public in 2003 and is currently out of production.
Over the years, Ubaka has received several awards and recognitions for her leadership in the arts, including the Sojourner Truth Community Arts Award (2015), Legends and Icons (2015), and Drum Magazine's national poll, where she was voted 3rd as "Best Workshop Facilitator" (2001). She was honored with the "Drummer of the Year Award" (2002) from The Voices of Africa Choral Ensemble, Inc., and in 2005 and 2006, she received honorary citizenship and proclamations for "Ubaka Hill Day" from the City of Harrisburg, PA, and again in 2007 from North Carolina.
Ubaka draws inspiration from a wide array of historical and contemporary visionaries, artists, musicians, and activists, including Kay Gardner, Oprah Winfrey, Maria Gimbutas, Baba Olatunji, Elizabeth Lesser, Dorothy Stoneman, Bev Grant, Sarah Vaughn, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Vicki Noble, Alice Walker, Lisa Vogel, Layne Redmond, Abby Lincoln, Martin Luther King, John Coltrane, Sun Bear, Pharaoh Sanders, Jayne Cortez, Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Harriet Tubman, Daoud Williams, and Edwina Lee Tyler, as well as the majestic beauty of the Earth.
