Balafon Teacher École De Musique de Kirina – Mali Oumar Dembélé was born in 1986, in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. He grew up in a family deeply rooted in music, spanning generations from grandfather to grandsons. In 1998, he had to leave school due to a serious illness that persisted for two years. Being part of … Read More
Meet with Mahamadou Diabaté, director of our music school in Mali and 70th generation of musicians in his family. Mahamadou has been leading Ecole de Musique de Kirina for more than 10 years and his work is an outstanding example of how music can bring change and peace to a community. THANK YOU FOR … Read More
We’re very pleased to showcase the amazing PFC Day events organized by our music schools around the world! More than 200 musicians performed across more than 25 locations, reaching thousands of community members who came out to support our programs and celebrate music! PFC Day has now become a marquee event at almost all of … Read More
Mambo Sawa Sawa is a quite popular East African gospel song by Ruth Wamuyu (Kenya). The titles literally means “Things are getting better” and this song has been one of the classic tunes for the vocal classes at the Ubuntu Music Program in Kigali for several years. After initial recordings in Kigali, the song was … Read More
The Playing for Change Foundation and We The Best Foundation were proud to host its first-ever music camp in Downtown Miami at Joy Studios this summer. Thirty children, ages 8-18, partook in this free, two-week program and had the opportunity to learn from the best teachers, mentors and producers in the business. These young … Read More
We are proud to announce that Playing For Change Foundation, OBEY Clothing, and world class designer and artist Shepard Fairey have teamed up to release a beautiful and unique T-shirt to support our cause. This shirt was designed by Shepard Fairey for the OBEY Awareness Collection and will be sold worldwide at Obey Clothing retailers starting … Read More
The Joudour Sahara Music Program in the small town of M’hamid el Ghizlane in southeastern Morocco serves as the only access point locally for youth to express themselves creatively. Joudour Sahara focuses on traditional music and dance from several diverse ethnic tribal groups who settled in the oasis of M’hamid from different corners of the … Read More
A few weeks ago the Tintale Mother’s Society received the visit of Kishan Adhikari, a Nepali musician and actor based in Spain who has been a close friend of our Nepali team in the Udayapur region for over a decade. This time Kishan came back to Tintale with a single goal: creating a song with … Read More
In preparation for the annual Playing For Change Day Festival in Tamale, Ghana, PFCF has organized a musical residency at the Bizung School in Ghana, bringing students and staff from Ecole de Musique de Kirina in Mali. This was the first time that the students from Mali have traveled internationally, and the gathering in Tamale … Read More
Anu started as a student at the Musica Music Institute in Nepal when she was 16 years old. She is now a vocal mentor at the Institute and teaches vocals and performance to our students. Our music programs are full of beautiful stories about how music helps young people build character. Watch in … Read More