Join us for traditional and original West African music by Mamadou Diabate and Percussion Mania during this special visit to the Claremont Creative Center. Admission is by sliding scale donation: you choose your ticket price. Students free. If you have issues with registering via Eventbrite please contact [email protected] and we can add you manually.

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The balafon as a solo-instrument opens the door to West African melodies for European and North American listeners. The Balafon performed on in the concert demonstrates the different ways of African music. Some pieces are traditional pieces from Burkina Faso, whichhave been played for many many years. Others are original compositions by Mamadou, which are influenced also by his life in Europe. With incredible virtuosity Mamadou playes wonderful melodies with rhythmic finesse, completed with the sound of his voice. The sticks move with such great speed your eyes can barely follow. And if you can not see you would not know that Mamadou is standing alone on stage, because of the sound you would think that there are 3 musicians playing…

Mamadou Diabate was born into a traditional musician family (Sambla people) in Burkina Faso (West Africa), with a long tradition of practising the profession of story telling and music making. At the age of 5 he started his professional training with his father Penegue Diabate, who in his days was considered the best balafon player far beyond the bordes of the sambla culture. At 8 he began with his apprenticeship years with renowned balafonists of neighboring peoples. In 1988 and 1998 he won the first prize of the “National Culture Week” of Burkina Faso. He currently lives in Austria. With his group Percussion Mania he won the Austrian World Music Award (2011) and the Grand Prix of the “Triangle du Balafon” Competition in Mali (2012). For his virtuosity, he was there also honored with the “Prix Alkaly Camara de la virtuosité”.

In 2016 he was made Knight of the National Order (Chevalier de l’Ordre National) of Burkina Faso.

In 2019 he received the “Best International Artist” award of Burkina Faso.

Up to now (2022) he has released 14 CDs with his own compositions and 2 others with authentic music of the Sambla and Tusia peoples (both world premiere).

In Burkina Faso, he had built a primary school where poor children are taught free of charge. (www.sababu.info)

Join us for an intimate evening of chamber music with Ensemble Aubade at the Union Church, presented by the West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts. Admission is by sliding scale donation: you choose your ticket price. If you have issues with registering via Eventbrite please contact [email protected] and we can add you manually.

Ensemble Aubade performs vivid chamber music by European and American composers for flute, viola and piano (Peter H. Bloom, flute; Francis Grimes, viola; and Steven Sussman, piano) and masterworks for flute, viola and harp (Bloom and Grimes with harpist Mary Jane Rupert). The esteemed ensemble, based in Boston, concertizes across the United States, winning praise for stellar musicianship, vibrant performances, and engaging residencies.

Peter H. Bloom, flute, concertizes in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Far East; appears on 48 recordings; and is a winner of the American Musicological Society’s Noah Greenberg Award. The Boston Globe called his playing “a revelation for unforced sweetness and strength,” while Gapplegate Music Review hailed his “evergreen brilliance.” An active recitalist and chamber musician, he has performed for The National Gallery in London, Animusic Portugal in Braga, New Zealand School of Music, University of Canberra College of Music (Australia), Payap University in Chiang Mai, Goethe Institute in Bangkok, The Metropolitan Museum, Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, The New York Flute Club, The Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Florida, and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, among others. He is a noted jazz artist, veteran of the famed Aardvark Jazz Orchestra (50th season). He has given master classes across the globe and has served as historical performance consultant to The American Museum in Britain, New-York Historical Society, American Antiquarian Society, and Museum of Fine Arts Boston. He is contributing editor for Noteworthy Sheet Music. He holds an MM with distinction in flute performance from New England Conservatory and a BA (philosophy) from Boston University.

​Francis Grimes, viola, is an esteemed chamber musician, orchestral player and educator. He has performed with the Boston Pops, Boston Opera, Masterworks Chorale, Sinfonova, Boston Ballet, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and other premier ensembles. He concertized nationally with the Star Wars Orchestra and performed with choral groups in tours of Italy, England and the Czech Republic. He regularly serves in the orchestras of Boston’s venerable Colonial and Schubert Theatres. Mr. Grimes has served on the faculties of Milton Academy, All Newton Music School, Community Music Center of Boston, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and the Young People’s Symphony of Rhode Island. He attended Boston University’s School of Fine Arts, and completed his BM at Indiana University as a student of William Primrose. He attended summer programs at Tanglewood and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. He also studied with Roman Totenberg, Bernard Kadinoff, Eugene Lehner, and members of the Berkshire String Quartet at Indiana University, and the Fine Arts Quartet at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Steven Sussman, piano, is acclaimed as a soloist, accompanist, chamber musician and orchestral member, performing classical music, jazz, and musical theater in New England and across the United States. He is the director of Opera Presto, toured previously with Brown Bag Opera, appeared with American Classics, and was staff accompanist at the Berklee College of Music. An experienced educator, Sussman serves on the faculty at The Rivers Conservatory of Music, teaches at the St. Marks School, and maintains an active teaching studio. He serves in the music ministries at First Parish Church (Bedford MA), St. Ignatius Church (Boston College), and Christ Church (Needham MA). He earned a Master of Music in performance from Boston University, studying with Anthony di Bonaventura, and a Bachelor of Music from Indiana University, where his principal teachers were Enrica Cavallo-Gulli and Jorge Bolet.