The sound begins low and steady, like distant thunder. With a fiery-red tubano drum between the knees, Eastman alumnus John R. Beck ’83E (MM) leans forward and strikes the drumhead with his palm, sending a warm pulse rolling through the room. The tone is deep and welcoming, reminiscent of traditional congas. Around him, students and faculty from the Eastman School of Music, Nazareth University, and SUNY Geneseo—along with community members—answer with rhythms of their own. Before long, the circle is alive with overlapping beats, every participant letting the groove take hold.

That was the scene on Saturday, September 6, when the group gathered to form a drum circle—an ancient practice with roots in cultures around the world. “It was wonderful to bring such a diverse group of people together,” Beck says. “There were students and faculty from many different communities, all smiling and enjoying the experience of interactive group drumming.”

In modern settings, a drum circle is more about shared experience than performance. It’s an opportunity to build community, reduce stress, and tap into a sense of connection. There’s no stage, no audience. Everyone is both musician and participant, listening and responding, stacking rhythms until a collective energy emerges. The beats don’t need to be polished or precise; the power lies in their synchronicity. At its best, a drum circle is a reminder that each player is part of something larger than themselves.

MAKING HIS OWN WAY: John R. Beck has played and taught percussion for over 40 years.

“There is no prior musical experience necessary,” Beck adds. “Just a willingness to have fun and try something new.”

The son of legendary Eastman percussion professor John H. Beck ’55E, ’62E (MM), Beck has built a distinguished career of his own. Principal percussionist of the Winston-Salem Symphony, he has performed with major symphonies, brass bands, and percussion groups and previously served in the United States Marine Band. For more than two decades, he taught at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and its neighbor Wake Forest University.

But it was his tenure as president of the Percussive Arts Society—a nonprofit for percussionists and educators founded in 1961—that introduced him to the health benefits of group drumming. While leading a community outreach program at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, IN, Beck brought along drums and made a striking discovery. “I saw how much people enjoyed being in rhythm together,” he recalled.

Inspired by that moment, Beck trained as a HealthRHYTHMS drum circle facilitator. Developed by psychologist Ellen Frank, HealthRHYTHMS is an evidence-based program that emphasizes wellness and community over performance, using recreational drumming as a strategy for healing and connection.

Music and health became deeply intertwined in Beck’s life following the death of his first wife, violist and Eastman alumna Nancy Holland-Beck ’83E, ’85E (MM), from cancer in 1995. Since then, he has devoted himself to leading drum circles for cancer patients, offering rhythm as a form of resilience.

In 2019, Beck returned to Eastman for Meliora Weekend, where he joined a panel on alumni working in nonprofit leadership. There, he met Gaelen McCormick ’92E, director of the Eastman Performing Arts Medicine Center (EPAM). Their shared commitment to music in healthcare settings sparked a collaboration, bringing HealthRHYTHMS to Rochester. Beck had already adapted the protocol for a research study with stem cell transplant recipients in North Carolina; now he and McCormick extended its reach to cancer survivors at the Pluta Cancer Center.

“When John shared his successful research using drumming in the cancer center in North Carolina, we were eager to build on that work here in Rochester,” McCormick says. “He consulted with our EPAM team as we developed the idea for group drumming with outpatient cancer survivors and even came to demonstrate the approach with staff at the Pluta Cancer Center’s Integrative Oncology Center.”

TO THE BEAT OF THE DRUM: Beck led a drum circle with students and faculty from the Eastman School of Music, Nazareth University, and SUNY Geneseo, alongside community members. Photo Credit: Gaelen McCormick.

Beck has returned to Rochester several times since then, most recently to lead the drum circle that brought students, alumni, and community members together. As hands struck drums, he shared how group drumming can benefit a wide range of participants—from children with intellectual and developmental disabilities to older adults experiencing cognitive decline, to cancer survivors in treatment and recovery. Drawing on his previous research, Beck shared that just 30 minutes of HealthRHYTHMS drumming can produce measurable benefits: participants reported improved mood, increased energy, a sense of relaxation, and reductions in anxiety, distress, and pain. In the room that day, the joy and shared focus made those findings feel almost tangible.

Having just completed the feasibility study at Pluta, McCormick and EPAM are continuing to build on Beck’s work, expanding their research to better understand how music can support health, recovery, and well-being for a wide range of participants. Meanwhile, Beck continues to show through his work with HealthRHYTHMS that a simple drumbeat can resonate far beyond the circle, bringing joy, resilience, and human connection wherever it goes.

Learn more about the research projects shaping the future of arts in medicine by visiting EPAM’s website. And to help fund pilot programs like this one, you can make a gift that supports new and creative ways music promotes health and healing.