Programas educativos

Children and adults watching a musical performance on stage with instruments, in a red and black theater with a red curtain and a decorative ceiling.
Children and adults gathered outdoors under a large tree during daytime, participating in an event where a man in a black Hawaiian shirt is handing out boxes to a girl in a pink dress, with other children waiting and adults in the background.

Yapa! is committed to music and cultural education. Among us we have backgrounds in language, anthropology and Latin American and African studies. Several members have taught for over three decades. We have experience in K-12 schools, as university professors, and in a wide variety of community settings.

We have worked with people of diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, including low income and immigrant communities, and people with disabilities. Above all, we relish the experience of bringing people together through a new understanding of culture, rhythms, musical genres and world instruments.

Central to our mission is to share music in ways that unite rather than divide us, foster empathy, creativity and critical thinking, and we are excited for the opportunity to do so on an in-depth level in educational settings.

A group of diverse people standing on a stage, some wearing casual clothes, with a woman in a floral dress speaking into a microphone, and musical instruments in the background.
A group of people gathered outdoors under a wooden shelter, including a man with a black cap and glasses, two young boys, and several women, some of whom are sitting or standing in the background, enjoying a sunny day with trees and greenery around.
A group of people sitting on a wooden gazebo porch, attentively listening to a woman speaking. The gazebo is decorated with string lights and surrounded by green trees.

Workshop Topics Examples*

  • Introduction to Latin American instruments

  • Music and Social Change

  • Building and playing panpipe flutes (zampoñas) (materials provided upon request)

  • Music for Mental Health

  • African Drumming (drums provided upon request)

  • Learn to Dance Cumbia!

  • Building Community through Music

  • African Songs and Rhythms

  • Latin Rhythm Principles 

  • Latin and Spanish style guitar techniques

  • Strings from around the world (timple, charango, violin, guitar)

  • African Drums as Music Therapy

  • Latin/African/Appalachian music fusions

  • Flutes from around the world

*workshops can be taught in Spanish, English, or both

A man wearing sunglasses and a tie-dye shirt sitting outdoors on a black folding chair. He is smiling and holding a ring. Next to him are children drawing on cardboard boxes. There is green grass and trees providing shade, with a chair, water bottle, and guitar nearby.

Educational Events:

Centre College - ECTC (Elizabethtown) - Indiana University Southeast (IUS)

K-12 schools - Speed Art Museum - JCTC - Hazard High School (Hazard, KY)

Community Cultural Events:

Kentucky Refugee Ministries

Louisville Folk School

Adelante Hispanic Achievers

Kentucky Center for the Arts

Kentucky Performing Arts (KPA)

La Casita Center

Brushy Fork Leadership Institute (Berea/Hazard)

Americana Community Center

Bernheim Forest

La Posada Kentucky