Robin “Bountourabi” Leftwich has been a student of the drum for over twenty years. Within the last twelve years, Robin has focused her studies on West African Drumming. She has traveled to Guinea, West Africa three times and is a personal student of Fode Moussa Camara and has studied under Mamady Keita, Bill Scheidt, Famoudou Konate, Ali Camara, Mohamed DaCosta, and Mama & Baba Anderson. Robin has also studied with the Ballet Gbassikolo performance group. Today, Robin is a highly respected and accomplished professional musician and teacher.

As a staff member of Tam Tam Mandingue Winston-Salem, Robin teaches weekly classes and workshops. She is also an on-staff instructor at the African Drum and Dance Camp in Little Switzerland, NC. Robin regularly travels to teach classes, workshops and play in performances. She has traveled to Maryland to teach at the Bumbada Women’s Drumming Weekend, which featured Ubaka Hill and Alabama to teach with Get Rhythms/John Scalici.

A 2008 grant recipient from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem, Robin has expanded her teaching to include reheading djembes and dununs. She has dedicated time during her trips to Guinea to study with the African djembe and dunun builders, and Robin is well-known as an accomplished reheader. In addition to maintaining the drums for TTM Winston-Salem, Robin also teaches drum-building workshops and builds/repairs djembes for drummers throughout the surrounding areas.

Robin believes that West African Drumming is not a secret to keep, but a tradition to be shared. She strives to honor her teachers by passing this living tradition into the hands and hearts of new students. Robin is available for classes, workshops, corporate events, and drum building/repair.