2013 GOALS12PROGRAMS750STUDENTS163JOBS CREATEDcontribute

École De Musique de Kirina

Kirina, Mali

In 2009, Mahamadou Diabaté -brother of Grammy Award-winning Kora player Toumani Diabaté- and a wonderful musician in his own right, approached the Playing For Change Foundation about building a music school in his native country of Mali. Thanks to his help and guidance, PFCF broke ground on its third music school on the African continent this year: Ecole de Musique de Kirina (Music School of Kirina). The school is located in the village of Kirina, approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of Mali’s capital city, Bamako.

Kirina is a Griot village without any electricity, where the inhabitants live in humble straw roofed houses made of bricks that have dried in the sun's heat. The Griots play an essential role in Malian culture: they are the keepers of oral history and traditions, passing them on through music and poetry. Kirina has been preserving its unique musical and cultural heritage for more than 700 years and the school helps the people of Kirina preserve and share their  cultural heritage and musical traditions and. Beyond the music school, we are also working to improve access to clean drinking water for the community, as well as  developing a musical instrument workshop destined to help to sustain the school financially and create job opportunities in the village.

The school opened its doors in October of 2010, and now offers classes in kora, djembe, balafon, dance, tama (talking drum). Beyond music classes we introduced language classes in French and English and we have recently launched an "evenning classes" program where teachers from the public school are coming every week to the music school to give extra lessons in English, French, and Sciences. This new program, destined to help compensate the very low success rate at the public school,  as soon became a great asset for the music school as some kids are coming to attend the classes from other villages of the area. .

Free Image Hosting  Join the music school on Facebook

Photos of the school preparing to open

Photos of the school in action

  • 3 of the greatest musicians in Africa come to visit the music school of Kirina

  • The villagers of Kirina build their music school with support from PFCF

  • Un reportage sur le processus de création de notre dernière école de musique à Kirina

  • Esto es un reportaje sobre nuestra última escuela de música en Kirina

  • Baaba Maal performing in Kirina, Mali

  • MUSIC IS THE KEY as students in Mali and Ghana meet each other through the first song recorded around our music schools.

  • More than 200 kids attend free classes in kora, balafon, drums, dance, musical theory, history, English and French.

  • Toumani Diabaté, Habib Koité, and Baaba Maal visit the music school of Kirina, Mali, created by PFCF.

  • Mahamadou and Seydou explain how the music school got started, and the impact of the music school on the community.

OTHER WAYS TO GIVE

$15

Djembe repair

Allows local craftsmen to replace the head of a djembe (hand drum)

Give this item


$75

N’gony

Provides a locally made n’gony (string instrument), benefiting a child and local craftsman

Give this item


See all

FEATURED STUDENT

Nadjo Kouyate

Nadjo Kouyaté is 10 years old and studies balafon at the music school.  His talent and sense of rhythm surprised our teachers since the very first balafon class. His grandfather was a famous local balafon player, born and raised in Kirina.  When he died he hadn't  transmitted his musical knowledge to his son who decided to go to Guinea to learn balafon in order to honor his father. He never

… more

NEWS

May 17, 2013

Solar Panels in Kirina

by François Viguié

Kirina has recently experienced a tremendous change for the daily life of the community. The village has been offered more than 300 solar panels (photovoltaic panels) through the Malian government. The initiative is the result of the cooperation between the Chinese and the Malian governments. The village of Kirina has been chosen for this very special gift among thousands of villages in Mali…

Read More See all News

LIFE IN THE COMMUNITY

For more than 70 generations the Griot inhabitants of this village have been the keepers of African oral tradition. Music is in their blood, and this rich cultural heritage that dates back to the 13th century is alive and well in and the families that make their homes here.

Traditional West-African Music Education

Following the centuries-old Griot traditions, these classes focus on teaching traditional instruments such as Kora, Balafon, Tama, Djembé, and introduce an approach to musical theory. Classes are also given in dance, chant, English and French....… more

Djembe

The djembé is maybe the most popular West African instrument. The djembé is a native percussion instrument in Kirina as its origins are traditionally located between Guinea (50 km south from Kirina) and Bamako ( 50 km north of Kirina).  In the...

… more

French & English

In addition to the music classes, our mission is to help the kids to prepare for their future in other ways. We decided to introduce language classes at the music school  after an agreement with the teachers of the public school. The idea of those...

… more

  • Mahamadou Diabaté

    Mahamadou is a Malian musician from a "griot" family that has played music since the 13th Century. He is a very talented, and has studied at the National Institute of Arts in Bamako. In addition to teaching classes in Kirina, he also serves as the school's creative director.

  • Seydou Dembelé

    Seydou is an English teacher and school administrator in Bamako, Mali. He began working with PFCF as a translator and project coordinator during the school's construction. He is now the head administrator of the school in Kirina where he also teaches French and English classes.

  • Oumou Mariko

    Oumou is a singer and a dancer living in Bamako, and has recently been performing and teaching African dance throughout Europe. Her natural joy and energy immediately convinced us that she had to be the chant and dance teacher for the children of Kirina.

  • Karounga Diabaté

    Karounga is the son of Keletigui Diabaté, one of the greatest balafon (traditional African xylophone) players in the country We are pleased to have him as Kirina's balafon teacher. Karounga is also an instrument crafter; he made the 10 balafon used by the students in Kirina.

  • Ladji Diabaté

    Ladji Diabaté is a renowned kora player and teacher in Mali. He is the brother of master kora playerToumani Diabaté. Ladji traveled the world playing the kora and has been living during 8 years in the US as a musician. His patience and calmness made him a perfect kora teacher for our students in Kirina.

  • Seydou Koné

    Seydou Koné is a master djembé player who lives in a village located 14km from Kirina. He assists Mahamadou for the percussion classes and leads the percussion band that plays for each dance class at the school. Twice a week, Seydou takes a 14 km bike ride to come and teach at the school to share his knowledge with our students

  • Mountaga Sissoko

    Mountaga is a master talking drum and n'goni player and is also an incredible instruments hand-crafter. Since october 2010 Mountaga teaches talking drum and n'goni at the Kirina Music school. In september 2012, Mountaga recorded on 'United', a song around the world produced by PFC for the UN 7 Billion Actions Campain.