The Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston will present Inanna, an all-female vocal and percussion ensemble, in concert Saturday, Oct. 9.

Inanna, Sisters in Rhythm, is an ensemble that explores the heritage and rhythms of West Africa, through original arrangements and compositions invoking ancient traditions of the drum.

The group originated with participants in a drum class in Alna, almost 12 years ago. Since then, Inanna has recorded and released four full-length albums and performed at numerous percussion festivals and community events.

Two years ago, they started an annual tradition of inviting master drummers from around the world to perform and teach summer workshops in Maine.

The ensemble plays African percussion instruments such as the djembe, kpanlogo, doundounba, denkeni and sangba, and other handcrafted percussion instruments such as the balafon (an African xylophone), rainsticks, kalimba (thumb piano), shekeres and a variety of bells and other small instruments.

The ensemble recently added frame drums, which are found in almost every culture and are the ancient instrument of women drummers.

As a group, Inanna members have studied percussion with Karamo Sabally of Gambia, West Africa; John McDowell of the Afro-jazz fusion group Mamma Tongue; Yaya Diallo, master drummer from Mali and the author of “The Healing Drum;” Layne Redmond, author of “When the Drummers Were Women;” and Famoudou Konate, one of the world’s best known djembe players.

Inanna takes its name from an ancient Sumerian goddess of more than 4,000 years ago during a period when it’s believed that drummers and dancers were predominantly women, according to the group. The ensemble chose the name to express its ties with earlier traditions.

In a review of the Babatunde Olatunji Benefit Concert in Middleton, N.Y., Martin Patmos from Modern Drummer Magazine wrote that “with exceptionally tight interplay and terrific energy, this was an exciting group to watch.”

Inanna has also been recognized as the Best World Music Act by the Best Music Poll of 2003.

During the 2004-2005 season, the center on Cedar Street plans to continue multicultural programming in addition to its presentation of orchestral and choral music.