Teachers and students at Bizung know a myriad of different native languages such as Twi, Ewe, Gonja, Hausa, Kusasi, Bimoba and Buli, but the majority of the students at Bizung speak Dagbani, the language of the Dagomba people in Ghana’s Northern Region.  It is in this subtly commanding tongue—the idiom of their families, community and ancestors—that the children best express their hopes and dreams, and that their musicality emerges.

On April 10th, members of the Playing For Change Foundation were in Denver, Colorado to witness the groundbreaking of a Youth Media Studio (YMS) and development project in the city’s La Alma district. It was an exciting day for everyone involved. The ceremony included members of the community, local activists, artists and esteemed guests, including many of Colorado’s elected officials as well as the band, Flobots and our own Denver based board members. Playing For Change musicians, Mermans Mosengo and Jason Tamba were also in attendance.

Members of the Women’s group are being further educated regarding the latest trafficking techniques perpetrated in the Terai region. The kind folks at Maiti Nepal have graciously provided printed materials for the Mother’s Society. Information officer Achyut Kumar Nepal presented PFCF administrator Ishor Bajrachayra with a generous stack of handouts and posters offered for our effort. We are deeply grateful to Maiti Nepal for authorizing PFCF to distribute this vital information.

Despite a political crisis in Bamako, and a very uncertain situation in the North of the country, the Music School in Kirina is thriving and we have started new extension works this week. This extension represents a crucial step for the development of the project and we are very excited about it. The first structure that we are building is an open-air dance classroom. The classrooms of the music school were too small to welcome all our dance students in optimal conditions and this new space will allow our fantastic dance teacher, Oumou Mariko, and his students to express themselves in an adapted space. The open-air classroom will also be a multitask space that will be used for music instruction, performances, and workshops.

Bizung children are bringing their talents to their communities. Having performed at several events around Ghana, and been broadcast on live television, word on the Bizung school got out.  Like traditional lunsi drummers and gonje fiddlers, they started getting invitations to provide the entertainment for nearby weddings and naming ceremonies.  Music forms a customary, indispensible part of all Dagbamba gatherings.

A few months ago, a Brazilian organization called “Bem te Vi”, who organizes art workshops for kids around the world, got in touch with the PFCF in order to give a workshop in one of our music schools. After being in places such as Angola, England, the amazonian forest and Spain, Bem te Vi was set to come to the Bizung school of music and dance in Tamale, Ghana, to challenge our kids on their artistic creativity during a week.

We’re involved in a grant contest, and we need your help today, tomorrow, and every day for the next 10 days to win! We’re currently in the top 6, which has us in line for a $10,000 award, and if we get to #1 we’ll win $50,000 for our programs! The contest runs through March 31st, and you may vote every day until then to support Playing For Change Foundation by clicking here: http://www.cultivatewines.com/cause/6178/

The xylophones at Bizung are not indigenous to the tribes of the Northern Region.  We brought them here from Lawra in the Upper West region of Ghana, close to the borders of Burkina Faso and Cote D’Ivoire.  The big frames and the dangling gourds make for an imposing instrument, with a bright, sprightly sound unusual to the pace of life in Tamale.  Bizung teacher B. A. Kolaan learned xylophone formally during the 1970s and 1980s at Winneba University, and certainly has the pedagogic skills and patience to teach this challenging instrument.  Pentatonic, with three octaves, the children’s mallets have considerable distance to cover.  Besides the difficulty in getting the layout of the keys—from G to D (the notes are written in chalk for reminders)—there is the problem of timing.  The most basic principle of West African music may be “3 against 2”, also known as hemiola.  This sort of polyrhythm creates a tension-release mechanism, wherein beats converge and diverge, cyclically (and almost philosophically).  On the xylophone, hemiola can be executed with the left playing three while the right plays two beats or, for beginning learners, one pupil can play the two part, while the other child plays three beats over this recurrently.  A joy to listen to and a challenge to play, Kolaan uses simple choral patternings to introduce this fundamental concept.  In Dagari, the language of the people where the Ghanaian xylophone predominates, one such song used at Bizung is as follows:

In the winter of 2012, Don Collinridge and his group of 10 musicians planned a road trip around the southern part of New South Wales…

1,700 = $50,000 for music education!

We’re involved in a grant contest, and are just 1,700 votes behind the winning cause! We’re currently in the top 6, which has us in line for a $10,000 award, however if we can get to #1 it will mean $50,000 for our programs! The contest runs through the end of the month, and you may vote every day until then to support Playing For Change Foundation by clicking here: http://www.cultivatewines.com/cause/6178/