Newton - Sussex County Community College will present a program by Maxwell Kofi Donkor, master drummer, at 10:50 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2, in the Sussex Bank Theater at the college. Kofi Donkor is an award-winning sculptor and educator, but he says it is drumming that inspires him. He often says that he benefits from drumming more than his students do. “Drumming is part of me,” he said recently. “I love it. I leave strengthened by the spirit of the drum.” His music is intended to create an atmosphere of an indigenous African village, where everyone gets involved. It celebrates daily life, marriage, initiation, birth of a baby, first sprouts of corn, harvest, the community welcoming of guests, even death. The songs and rhythms are indigenous, passed on from generation to generation in unwritten form. Donkor grew up with them and they have become part of him. He first learned the skills essential to a drummer at his grandfather’s knee, in his native village, Otumi, in Ghana, West Africa. Like many Ghanaian youths, he was commissioned as a teenager to carry on the traditions of his ancestors and performed for a number of years with the Folklore Ensemble of Ghana. He has been drumming and performing for more than 30 years, and has played with nationally known drummers, including Babatunde Olatunji, Mickey Hart, Sikiru and Camara. Since his arrival in the U.S., he has formed a number of drum circles in the tri-state region. He says the type of drumming he does not only “penetrates the body, mind, soul, and spirit, but also brings a balance into a person; it is, in fact, the heartbeat of humanity, balancing the negative and positive energies of the everyday hectic life in the community.” His drum circles are open to people of all ages and all levels of drumming. For information, call 973-300-2232.