Middlebury goes ‘beyond drumming’

MIDDLEBURY — The new Middlebury African Music and Dance Ensemble will present its debut concert “Beyond Drumming” today at 8 p.m. in the Mahaney Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Directed by Damascus Kafumbe, the ensemble will highlight the music and culture of Uganda in an hourlong program of instrumental, song and dance performance.
The concert will feature Middlebury 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).
Kafumbe is the newest faculty member in the Department of Music. In addition to directing the ensemble, he teaches courses in ethnomusicology and world music.
The concert will be free and open to the general public. For more information, call 802-443-3168 or go to http://go.middlebury.edu/arts.