Master drummer Bolokada Conde, considered one of the world’s best djembe players, will perform at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 10 in UNC Asheville’s Lipinsky Auditorium.
Mr. Conde will be joined by Billy Zanski of Skinny Beats drum shop, the UNC Asheville African Drum Ensemble, Ivory Cost dancer Barakissa Coulibaly and local drummers and dancers.
Concert tickets are $6, and are available at uncatickets.com.
Conde’s Friday concert and an outdoor workshop he will offer on Saturday, April 11, are both part of UNC Asheville’s Arts Fest, a three-day festival featuring musical and theatrical performances, exhibits, creative workshops and more. The April 11 event will feature Conde partnering with Skinny Beats, Zanski’s drum shop in downtown Asheville, to offer a free public drum circle and workshop on the University Quad. Drums will be provided.
A musical prodigy who became a sensation in the Sankaran region of Guinea, West Africa, Conde has performed in major venues all over the world as the lead drummer of Les Percussion de Guinée, Guinea’s premiere percussion ensemble. Now settled in the United States, he has continued to perform internationally while teaching at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is an artist associate at that university’s Robert E. Brown Center for World Music. Conde has directed and starred in three ballets, released four albums, and was featured in the IMAX movie PULSE: a Stomp Odyssey.
Conde’s appearances at UNC Asheville are sponsored by the university’s Cultural Events and Special Academic Programs office. For more information, visit cesap.unca.edu or call 828.251.6674. For more information on UNCAsheville’s Arts Fest, visit arts.unca.edu/arts-fest.