Yaya Diallo, a noted West African musician, author and teacher, will headline an evening of music and dance Saturday, August 28 at 7:00 at the Amy Cralle Theater, Wilson Wyatt Center for the Arts at Bellarmine University, 2001 Newburg Road in the Highlands. Djembe Jala and Bellarmine students will also perform.

“The music we will perform originates in Mali, Guinea, and Iroquois, and Africa in general,” says Diallo, who is also the founder of Farafina Donia, a school that promotes traditional culture in his native Mali. The musician, who specializes in the djembe, a goblet-shaped drum played with the hands, also teaches World Music at the university, along with drum lessons in the community. “The performance itself will look like my national and international performance group,” he says. Along with his students, some longtime student drummers from as far back as 17 years will join Diallo onstage, along with a trio of dancers. Even though Diallo has performed at Bellarmine for six years, he says that “for the first time my international group will come to Kentucky so the world of African music will stop to look [upon] Kentucky.”

The concert is scheduled to run from 7:00 to 9:00 P.M. General admission is $10 for adults, or $5 for students and children. 

For more information, visit www.onzou.com or call 410-9890.

Contact the author at leecopywriting@gmail.com or www.leecopywriting.com.

Photo: Courtesy Bellarmine University