African American Mbira Project

The Autumn 2024 session of the African American Mbira Project (AAMP) is now under way! We are always open to welcome new learners. Please download your application here:

Download your application

The mbira is a mystical form of music from Zimbabwe and is considered to have the power to provide comfort and healing to all who experience it.

The African American Mbira Project (AAMP) introduces, supports and perpetuates the music of the mbira within the African American community. Our intention is to increase the diversity of practitioners by centering the African American community.

Each registered participant will receive a mbira and be enrolled in regular instruction, either online for remote students, or in person for those residing in the Bay Area.

Our ten-week Autumn Session will meet from September 24th through the week of November 26th, 2024.

Each registered participant will receive a mbira and be enrolled in regular instruction, either online for remote students, or in person for those residing in the Bay Area.

Our ten-week Autumn Session will meet from September 24th through the week of November 26th, 2024.

How It Works

Your Instrument

The AAMP will provide each registered participant with an mbira. Though these mbira are the property of the AAMP, participants can keep their instruments for the duration of the time that they remain in the project. If a participant is no longer interested in the AAMP, they must agree to return the mbira. Students also have the option to purchase their instruments outright.

Participants will submit a small deposit for the use of their instrument. This amount will be refunded to the student once the mbira is returned to the AAMP, or can be used as a downpayment for the purchase of the instrument.

Upon our receipt of your application, each participant will be entered onto our Slack workspace. This is where you will gain access to your Zoom links for your classes, workshops and other special events, as well as announcements from us. It is also where you can be in touch with each other for the purpose of comparing notes or setting up your own practice sessions. A survey will then be taken to determine the best time for us to schedule your classes.

Tuition

Tuition for the AAMP is $150. This will include all classes (10 weekly meetings either in person or on Zoom @ $15 per class), Slack workspace activities and special presentations.

Schedule

Autumn Session: September 24th through the week of November 26th, 2024.
Ten meetings.

The African American Mbira Project (AAMP)

The mbira is a unique musical culture conceptualized by the Shona people of Zimbabwe. However, due to historical and systemic processes, mbira is one of the only forms of African music in the US to exist largely outside of the African American community. Therefore, our focus is to enable more African Americans to gain access to this tradition. By providing students with their own instrument and introducing them to classic mbira repertory.

Through a combination of online weekly group classes, special Cultural Enrichment Programs, individual support, and in-person events as the pandemic subsides, each member will be stewarded through practical hands-on experience with the instrument.

The DARE program is a production of the African American Mbira Project, an initiative to perpetuate the music and tradition of the mbira within the African American community of the US.