Sibo Bangoura

Born into a Griot (musicians) family, Sibo learnt to play drums at a young age. He trained with Ballet Matam through his youth and at the age of 18years was a soloists for the Ballet. He came to study with Bocca Camara (one of Guinea’s most talented drummers of his generation) and then was made a leading soloist in Bocca’s group Percussion Bocca. In 1999, Sibo made his first trip to Australia with Jala, a performance group from Conakry, Guinea’s capital. He then moved to Zurich where he spent nine-months teaching, performing and touring around Switzerland with several local West African groups. Sibo eventually returned to Australia in 2002, where he is now settled in Sydney.

A passionate advocate for the music of his homeland, Sibo is involved with several Sydney-based groups. He plays regularly with the popular traditional percussion group Mohata and works closely with Sydney’s Drum Café. Sibo teaches regular drum/dance classes and workshops extensively in and around Sydney and is regularly invited to run workshops all over Australia. Sibo works closely with his internationally acclaimed brother Epizo Bangoura on his visits to Sydney and when on tour in Japan. Having worked on a variety of projects around Australia, including collaborating with Aboriginal performers and performing with various Australian artists, Sibo has travelled extensively for his work including several trips to New Caledonia, Fiji, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Korea and The Czech Republic.

Sibo is renowned for his high-spirited performance and generous and encouraging teaching stlye. Sibo returns to Guinea each year with his students for one month intensive study tours. He encourages his students to travel to Guinea giving them the opportunity to further their studies and experience his culture first hand.