Join us for a special salon-style concert with virtuoso balafon artist Mamadou Diabate and Percussion Mania.
April 28, 2023 @ 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Union Church Hall
Mamadou Diabate and Percussion Mania
Last week we visited Nigeria, and now we move Northwest to Burkina Faso Africa. Join us for a special salon-style concert with virtuoso balafon artist Mamadou Diabate and Percussion Mania. This is a rare opportunity to hear world-class music in an intimate setting, or to join us in viewing online. Following the ocncert there will be an opportunity for questions and to see the instruments up close. Seating with be in the Union Hall. Space is limited and we recommend you reserve your spot online in advance. All tickets purchased for this event will help to support the Claremont Creative Center project. MAMADOU DIABATE’S PERCUSSION MANIA Mamadou Diabate: he brings the sun of West Africa on stage! Colorful as the atmosphere on a market place somewhere in West Africa, is the music of Mamadou Diabate and Percussion Mania. Kanuya – the name of the latest CD – means friendship, respect and appreciation. You can hear and feel all this with the musicians on stage. Virtuosic balafonmusic, supported by powerful African rhythms and refined by African chants. A complete scene in which the body can´t sit still anymore…. See for yourself! The master of the Balafon Mamadou Diabate lives and works in Vienna. He composes, sings and plays the balafon as well as various percussion instruments. His concert tours take him to many contries and prestigious festivals. After 12 CDs and countless concerts he has become an indispensable part of the world music scene. “He brings the sun of West Africa to our concert stage! In this few words you can rewrite the emotion and energy in Mamadou’s music. “
Save the Date
Fiddler Morgan Toney: Mi’kmaltic (Mi’kmaq + Celtic)
May 13, 6:30pm at Union Church – admission is by donation
Music’s an almost alchemical force to Canadian Mi’kmaq fiddler and singer Morgan Toney. From the first time he really heard music, sitting on the floor of his uncle’s house transfixed by a DVD of Phil Collins, to 2022 where he’s one of the most in-demand young fiddlers and singers in Atlantic Canada, was nominated for three East Coast Canadian Music Awards, and his debut album, First Flight, is being reissued by Indigenous record label Ishkode Records. In just a short amount of time, Toney’s been able to invigorate both the Atlantic music communities and Mi’kmaq communities by bringing together the fiery fiddling of Cape Breton Island with the old songs of the Mi’kmaq, one song dating back up to 500 years. He calls this fusion Mi’kmaltic (Mi’kmaq + Celtic) and it’s his way of celebrating his language and heritage. He’s honoring the elders who’ve taught him the songs and the language, and he’s taking his place on the front lines of Eastern Canada’s cultural divide.