Two sisters from Afghanistan have be engaged in a musical resistance to the Taliban’s repression of women. They began making videos of poems against the repression and in celebration of women’s strength, singing the poems, and posting them to social media. They hide their identities under the burkas they are supposed to wear in public,… Read more »
Category: Music Festival
Margaret Bonds, “The Montgomery Variations”
“The Montgomery Variations” is a group of freestyle variations based on the Negro Spiritual theme “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me.” Bonds begins with a bold statement of the theme which continues in dramatic variations throughout the piece in the same key, major and minor. Bonds wrote “The Montgomery Variations” following a visit to… Read more »
Fulu Miziki
Fulu Miziki is roughly translated as “music from the garbage.” A collective of musicians from the Democratic Republic of Congo came together to make music out of items gathered from the garbage. They are protesting the way the wealthier nations are using Africa as a trash bin, dumping their refuse in poorer countries. These “eco-friendly… Read more »
Rap Against Dictatorship
Rap Against Dictatorship is a group that has grown out of the pro-democracy protests in Thailand which have been a direct challenge to the military, the political establishment, and the monarchy. They use hip-hop music infused with language that is very jarring in the ultra-polite and deferential Thai society. They express the rage and passion… Read more »
Noella Wiyaala
With her stage name of only Wiyaala, she is an Afro-pop singer from Ghana. She sings in her native language of Sissala, English, and various other Ghanaian languages, often combining them in one song. After a breakout year in 2013 with many music awards, Wiyaala became an ambassador for UNICEF. In that capacity she has… Read more »