Students Explore Musics of Uganda
The new Middlebury African Music and Dance Ensemble will present their debut concert “Beyond Drumming” on Tuesday, December 6, 2011, at 8 p.m. in the Mahaney Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Directed by Dr. Damascus Kafumbe, the ensemble will highlight the music and culture of Uganda in an hour-long program of instrumental, song, and dance performance.
The concert will feature students performing original compositions, arrangements of traditional tunes, and dance choreography on a wide range of Ugandan musical instruments, including adungu (bow harps), agwara (side-blown trumpets), akogo (thumb pianos), bucence (reed-box rattles), madinda (xylophones), ndingidi (tube fiddles), ndongo (bowl lyres), ng’oma (drums), and nsaasi (gourd shakers).
Student performers for this concert will include Alex Eppler ’12, Alexander Tipper ’15, Alexandra Vasquez ’12, Allison Lacroix ’12, Benjamin Goldstein ’12, Carllee James ’13, Christine Valentin ’12, Connie Ruth Sanabria ’12, Dane Verret ’12, Deborah Wakefield ’12, Dominic Matthew Atkatz ’12, Erin Prak ’12, Hannah Clarke ’12, Heather Stefek ’12, Jeremy Cline ’11.5, Kelsey Calhoun ’12, Kira Gordon ’12, Lynn Noble ’11.5, Nathan Kloczko ’12, Rebecca Shaw ’12, Ryan Hershey-Van Horn ’12, Sarah Chapin ’12, Vincent Jones ’12, and Yuan Kang Lim ’12.
Dr. Kafumbe is the newest faculty member in the Department of Music. In addition to directing the Middlebury African Music and Dance Ensemble, he teaches courses in ethnomusicology and world music. Dr. Kafumbe also an expert performer on various East African musical instruments and of numerous East African dance traditions. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Makerere University in Uganda (2004) and two graduate degrees in musicology from the Florida State University College of Music (2006 and 2011).
Sponsored by the Department of Music, the concert will be free and open to the general public. For more information, call ext. 3168 or go to http://go.middlebury.edu/arts.