L'Ecole de musique de Kirina offers a dynamic music and dance program to 200 students. The creation of the program began in 2009 when Mahamadou Diabaté, brother of Grammy Award-winning Kora player, Toumani Diabaté, and a wonderful musician in his own right, approached us about building a music school in his native country of Mali. The school is located in the village of Kirina, near Mali’s capital city, Bamako.
Kirina is a Griot village, that holds 70 generations of musical and cultural heritage. 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.
The music school offers classes in kora, djembe, balafon, dance and tama. We introduced language classes in French and English as well as an evening class program where teachers from the public school are coming each week to the music school to give extra lessons in English, French, and Sciences.
VIDEO OVERVIEW: TAKE A VISIT AT ECOLE DE MUSIQUE DE KIRINA
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. Kirina has around 2000 inhabitants, and most of them are farmers.
Through collaborations, we have supported the installation of a well, first solar-powered pump and a cistern, which provides and stores clean water to the village.
200 weekly students
55% of girls
15 staff members
Traditional Music
TEAM ON THE GROUND
WHAT WE LEARN:
Here are some of the instruments and disciplines we teach at Ecole de Musique de Kirina. We mainly focus on helping transmit traditional Malian music





FEATURED STUDENT:
MEET WITH ALOU
Discover our music school in Mali through Alou’s experience. The young Alou, from Mali, introduces you to the music school in the village of Kirina.
LATEST NEWS:
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
In mid-August 2018 the village of Kirina, Mali was hit by a flood and suffered severe devastation. Many of our precious music students and their families are...
VIDEOS FROM THIS PROGRAM: