Although Professor James Makubuya is now based at MIT, he still directs the Kiyira Ensemble which he founded while in Los Angeles. The ensemble will make its Boston-area debut with a program of the music of East Africa on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 8pm in Kresge Auditorium.
The group of 14 instrumentalists, dancers and singers from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda explores their African heritage through dance, instrumental music and song. Named Kiyira ("waterfall") after the local name by which the River Nile is called at its source in south Uganda, the ensemble uses traditional African instruments to present the culturally diverse dances and music rooted in the various traditions of the landlocked country in East Africa.
Kiyira has also produced sound tracks for movies and television shows such as Mississippi Masala, African Skies, Sherlock Holmes and Simba: The King of the Jungle.
For more information, call x3-2906.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on September 24, 1997.
