Sibo Bangoura
SIBO BANGOURA - Percussionist from Guinea, West Africa
Sibo Bangoura was born to the beat of a drum and hasn’t stopped perfecting his art since. That’s just the way it is in The Republic of Guinea on the west coast of Africa; a country renowned for Djembe playing. A passionate advocate for the music of his homeland, Sibo Bangoura is one of Australiaʼs leading West African percussionists. Born into a Griot (musicians) family in Conakry, Republic of Guinea, as a child he was surrounded by the traditions and magic of music - his mother a singer, his father a master Balafon player.
Born into a Griot (musicians) family in Conakry, Republic of Guinea, as a child he was surrounded by the traditions and magic of music - his mother a singer, his father a master Balafon player. He trained with Ballet Matam through his youth and at the age of 18years was one of the 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’. By virtue of his talent & dedication to his music, Sibo came to travel the world and is now based in Sydney, Australia. In 1999, Sibo made his first trip to Australia with ‘Jala’, a performance group from Conakry, Guinea’s capital. The tour kicked off a succession of international visits and residencies that culminated in nine-months of teaching and performing in Zurich, Switzerland. While in Switzerland, Sibo toured the country performing with different West African groups. He was also involved in several drum and dance workshops during his stay. He eventually returned to settle in Australia in 2002.
Sibo is currently involved with several Sydney-based groups. He plays regularly with the popular traditional percussion group ‘Mohata’ and works closely with Sydney’s ‘Drum Circle Events’ (formerly known as ‘The Drum Cafe’). In early 2010 Sibo held a principal role in the stage musical event ‘Rhythm Safari’ showing at two popular theatres in Sydney. Having worked on a variety of projects around Australia such as running drum and dance workshops, collaborating with Aboriginal performers and performing with Australian artists, Sibo has travelled extensively for performance and workshops including trips to New Caledonia, New Zealand, Fiji, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Indonesia and the Czech Republic.
“That is what I am born to do - to share the knowledge and energy of my culture”, says Sibo. “I love to perform, I love to teach people. I see that it makes people happy and brings them together.” The unique thing about dance and percussion is that it involves the mind, body and the spirit - there aren’t too many activities out there that can do that!
Sibo recently released his first CD entitled “Keyim Ba”. (English: “very beautiful”). It has been universally praised for it’s outstanding musicianship and for harnessing the explosive power of Guinean drumming and song.
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