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About FonzibaFonziba has been teaching and performing on West African jembe hand drums since 1995. She has presented her African Drumming & Culture programs to thousands of kids and adults in schools, libraries, museums, churches and retirement communities throughout Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. She is listed on the “Arts & Education Roster” of teaching artists for the Illinois Arts Council and was also listed with the Iowa Arts Council until their roster was terminated. Graduating cum laude from New York's Alfred University in 1976, Fonsiba earned a BA in music education and was nominated for Who's Who in American Universities and Colleges. For the next seventeen years, she arranged and directed vocal works for a multi-national, educational group performing in Holland, Switzerland, Thailand, India, the Philippines and Puerto Rico. During Fonziba's in-depth training in West African drumming, she studied with master drummers from Mali, Guinea, Senegal and the Ivory Coast (see list below), and apprenticed with the renowned Malian drummer, Madou Dembele. Fonziba spent a year touring Midwest schools with Mr. Dembele and performed for the general public with his drum troupe, Super Yankadi. She also helped bring other West African drum and dance teachers to the Midwest for performances and workshops. Fonziba spent the summer of 2003 in Mali and the Ivory Coast, living with the Dembele family, a drumming family whose training and traditions go back over thirty-three generations or 800 years. While there, Fonziba apprenticed with Dramane Dembele (Madou's older brother), and played for African wedding celebrations as part of his drum troupe. She produced a documentary video about her trip, “Gifts from Mother Africa” which is now an important component of her programs. When not teaching in schools and libraries, Fonziba gives workshops, classes and private
lessons in West African drumming in her hometown of Fairfield, Iowa, and throughout the Midwest. Fonsiba's drum instructors include: Madou Dembele, Mali and Ivory Coast Dramane Dembele, Mali and Ivory Coast Abdoul Doumbia, Mali Sidi Joh Camara, Mali Mohammed Da Costa, Guinea Mamady Keita, Guinea Bolokada Conde, Guinea Djimo Kouyate, Senegal Mar Gey, Senegal Osei Apagye, Ghana Fatu Lady Drummer, USA Tam Tam Mandinque, USA Ubaka Hill, USA Arthur Hull, USA Gordy Ryan, USA Beverlee Botsford, USA Adam Rugo, USA Candace Freeland, USA Michael Marcus, USA |
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