Hit Like A Girl Champions Announced

Nearly 40 of the world’s top amateur drummers, percussionists and producers have been selected as the Champions and Winners of the 2018 Hit Like A Girl global contest for female drummers. These exceptional players represent a wide diversity of countries, ages and musical genres. The Hit Like A Girl contestants were judged by a group of award-winning professionals and will receive nearly $40,000 in prizes contributed by many of the world’s leading drum and percussion companies.

Started by David Levine, Drum magazine publisher Phil Hood, and Tom Tom magazine publisher Mindy Abovitz in 2012, the Hit Like A Girl has since attracted over 2,000 contestants from 50 countries. It has generated tens of millions of views online and fan votes from around the world. And it has raised the visibility of female drummers and spotlighted the efforts of girls and women.

Drum was honored to be one of the many judges for this year’s contest. Check out the video above for the HLAG awards show, hosted by percussionist Mona Tavakoli and drummer Jordan West. The show features world-premier drum duo performances by Mona and Jordan, 2014 HLAG Champion Riesha Fayson and 2015 HLAG Champion Lindsay Artkop, and 2017 HLAG Champion Faith Benson and The Warning’s Paulina Villareal. Special guests include Moty Baketas, Noriko Terada, Danielle “Daiza” Thwaites, Elizabeth Lang and more.

Here is the complete list of the 2018 Hit Like A Girl Contest winners:

Drumset <18

1^st Yuki Ogawa

2^nd Minji Kim

3^rd Roni Kaspi

Popular: Jamie-Leigh Schultz

Drumset 18+

1^st Calsey Tory

2^nd Lada Obradovic

3^rd Shiri Burstein

Popular: Sarra Cardile

World