P.O. Box 333 • Station St. Jacques
Montréal QC H3C 2S1
CANADA
Local: 514.482.5554
Toll Free: 1-800-541-8401
www.kosamusic.com
KoSA Communications US Hyde Park VT 05655-0332
PO box 332 USA
Contact: Dr. Jolan Kovacs-Mazza
Local: 514.482.5554 • Toll Free: 1-800-541-8401
info@kosamusic.com • www.kosamusic.com
For Immediate Release
KoSA China:
Four years in the making with a bright future ahead!
Montreal, August 26, 2013 – Internationally regarded drum and percussion artist Aldo Mazza, just
returned from a very successful trip to Tianjin, China where he had the exceptional opportunity
to teach and perform in front of several hundred eager Chinese drum enthusiasts alongside an
international faculty. Mazza is the Founder and Artistic Director of KoSA Music, a successful
music education events company that organizes high-level music camps, workshops and festivals
worldwide. This is Mazza's fourth visit to China. He was accompanied by his life partner Dr. Jolán
Kovács, KoSA’s Co-Founder and Project Coordinator. KoSA CHINA is now a well-established
annual event produced in collaboration with China's reputable 9 Beats Music Education Schools, a
nation wide effort consisting of 150 school locations throughout China.
The 2013 event kicked off with the band competition for kids of all ages studying at 9 Beats. Aldo
Mazza was a member of the judging panel alongside fellow percussion and drum set artists including:
Heinz Lichius (Germany), Alexander Cunha (Brazil), Chris Trzcinski (China), Nikos Touliatos
(Greece), Nicholas McBride (Australia) Da Liang (China) Jiang Ningzhan (China) and Australian
drummer Virgil Donati. The panel had the difficult task of selecting the best band from an array of
talented and energetic performers.
Following the competition were sevearl jam packed days featuring back-to-back teacher training
seminars given by Aldo to 9 Beats teachers, focusing on traditional Cuban rhythms and their
application on the drum set. Other classes concentrated on teaching 9 Beats students, who came
from all over China (a total of 650 participants this year) to study drum set and percussion. Additional amazing classes were given by Greg Irwin (USA) who wowed the students with his incredible finger exercise techniques and Nick Petrella (USA) who gave an in-depth presentation to the teachers on Marching Percussion. The week for all, was the Grand Finale Faculty Concert, hosted by Aldo Mazza. The concert featured the artists who judged the opening day competition as well as the participation of KoSA Faculty alumni, special guest motivational drummer Dom Famularo, and conga master Steve Thornton (USA). The event also featured two talented bass players: Wen Liu (USA) and Thanos Evangelou (Greece).
Plans are already underway for next year’s event in China (August 2014) with a possibly bigger
collaboration with the reputable 9 Beats school directed by Mr. Li Hongyu.
