For Immediate Release

Contact: Barbara K. Laskin or Doug Stone
January 11, 2005
(651) 696-6203

K - 12th Graders to Attend
African Music Ensemble Concerts Jan. 18 - 20, 2005

St. Paul, Minn. - Macalester College's African Music Ensemble will perform a series of concerts to introduce schoolchildren to African music, in the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, Concert Hall, 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, Minn. Performances are 10:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. each day, Tue. - Thu., Jan. 18-20. On Jan. 19 there is only a 10:30 a.m. performance.

The Ensemble performs traditional African music using a variety of authentic African instruments such as drums in many sizes and shapes, horns or Mmenson, flutes or Atenteben, various bells, rattles, mbiras, gourds and a Xylophone or Gyil.

The concert series, now in its ninth year, introduces children to music that performs a variety of cultural functions, including music for royalty, children's games, funerals, social commentary, daily life and more.

Director Sowah Mensah is an ethnomusicologist, composer, master drummer and a member of the Macalester Music Department. He has performed in the U.S., Africa and Latin America and is the director of Sankofa, a Ghanaian folklore and dance ensemble in the Twin Cities.

The group, which tours nationally, has been to Seattle, Wash., Santa Barbara, Calif., Kansas, and Michigan and at colleges and universities in the Upper Midwest. They've been featured on Minnesota Public Radio's "Morning Show" and performed for the opening ceremony at a recent Music Educators National Conference in Minneapolis, MN.

The Ensemble will also be giving a free concert on campus at 8 p.m., Sat., Jan. 29, in the Concert Hall of the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center.

Macalester is a private, national liberal arts college with a full-time enrollment of 1,845 students. Macalester is nationally recognized for its long-standing commitment to academic excellence, internationalism, diversity and civic engagement.

CONCERT SCHEDULE WITH ATTENDING SCHOOLS:

Jan. 18th @ 10:30
Marine Elementary School, Marine on St. Croix, MN
Longfellow Humanities Magnet School, St. Paul, MN
Grandview Middle School, Mound, MN
Shannon Park Elementary School, Rosemount, MN

Jan. 18th @ 12:15
The Blake Middle School, Hopkins, MN
Anthony Middle School, Minneapolis, MN

Jan. 19th @ 10:30
Poplar Bridge Elementary School, Bloomington, MN
Rush Creek Elementary School, Maple Grove, MN
Macalester-Plymouth Preschool, St. Paul, MN
Roseville Area High School, Roseville, MN

Jan. 20th @10:30
Gleason Lake Elementary School, Plymouth, MN
Pilgrim Lane Elementary School, Plymouth, MN
Macalester-Plymouth Preschool, St. Paul, MN
Pilot Knob Elementary School, Eagan, MN
Little Flowers Montessori, St. Louis Park, MN

Jan. 20th @ 12:15
Oak Park Elementary School, Stillwater, MN
Pond Center, Bloomington, MN
Fair Oaks Elementary School, Brooklyn Park, MN
North End Elementary School, St. Paul, MN

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