Event Filter: Music

biosphere will be DJing for Jen Moon and Koven Wei, including a piano ballad duet with Jen Moon and Nujabes live cover performance with Koven Wei. A set list of Koven’s hit singles in the Rap/Korean Hip-Hop genre and new unreleased singles fusing punk and rock with hip-hop undertones. 

Sadaka (“to give”) was created by Nigerian dance educator, performer and choreographer Sani Abu Mohammed Allen of Ijovudu Dance International to invite divine deities to share their energy and blessings with us. Join master drummer Amadou Kienou and friends in a parade to the heart of Habari Africa. Everybody is welcome to drum, dance, clap […]

The Butterfly Band is led by Kofi Ackah, son of the legendary Ghanaian highlife musician Jewel Ackah. The Butterfly Band features an all-star lineup of musicians that share a love of Ghanaian highlife music. 

Four electrifying vocalists with roots on the African continent will honour the role of women and mothers in carrying on musical traditions. Lorraine Klaasen, Djely Tapa, Mis Blandine and Ruth Mathiang share their talents in a musical diversity and excellence showcase, supported by accomplished musicians from Toronto and Montreal. 

Moulaye Dicko, better known by his stage name Dicko Fils, is a popular Burkinabé musician who sings and plays the kamala n’goni. He has been awarded the Knight’s Order of Merit from the Ministry of Culture of Burkina Faso and the Golden Kundé award for Best Artist. Dicko Fils has released several successful albums through […]

Born in Senegal to a family of musicians, storytellers, historians, singers and dancers (collectively known as griots), Sadio Sissokho’s roots are richly embedded in the Mandingue culture. Born in Mali to a large family of griots, Diely Mori Tounkara followed in the footsteps of his musician father by becoming an undisputed master of the kora. […]

Adam Solomon, known in musical circles as the “professor,” is a respected lead guitarist, composer and singer. He creates a unique sound that combines traditional African blues and jazz, spiced with East African rhythms. Solomon sings in English, Swahili and Mijikenda (the Nine Tribes on the Kenyan coast). He is working on reviving the classic sounds […]

IZimba Arts is a collective of African performing artists who pursue art as an instrument for community engagement. The group specializes in performances and workshops that include high-energy traditional and urban dances from Southern Africa. 

Join Njacko and Val Backo to make maracas out of empty tin cans and materials you can find around your home, like the maracas Njacko uses for his band. Then, at 3pm, learn to play and sing some traditional African songs. 

While Africa has blessed the world with many legendary female artists, Dobet Gnahoré has proven herself to be an extraordinary talent. Hailing from Côte d’Ivoire, she is a virtuosic singer, dancer, percussionist and songwriter who has taken the modern Afropop sounds of her country in exciting new directions.

The Azmari are skilled at improvisation and play an important role in Ethiopian society, like the griots or praise singers of West Africa. Ethio Azmari features vocalist Sintayehu “Mimi” Zenebe, drummer Bereket Gebrekirstos, dancer Yordanos Behonegn Nuri, masenqo player and vocalist Abebe Fikade. 

Multiple instruments, languages and countries define Okavango African Orchestra, a JUNO award-winning ensemble of African-born musicians living in Toronto and Montreal. The Okavango African Orchestra brings together the music and instruments of several African cultures to create a common meeting place and new musical language that harmonizes different tuning systems, rhythms and timbres. 

Gloria Gift Nankunda is a folk-soul musician based in Toronto. Her soulful voice brings a  euphony of tales and melodies derived from her rich Ankole heritage in Uganda meshed with other African musical influences.