Liyana USA Tour 2009

NEVER GIVE UP

"Never Give Up" is the motto at KGVI School in Zimbabwe. While students at KGVI all have physical challenges, they are encouraged to believe they can achieve anything and everything. They are taught to dream 'big' and to reach toward ever higher goals.

Several years ago, a visitor to KGVI heard the band play. She then asked if she could do something special for them. Believing it was possible, they told her they wanted to come to America to perform. In the months that followed, they dreamed about coming to the USA constantly. Knowing their music needed to be great should their dream come true, they practiced more than ever. Liyana never gave up.

One day, to their amazement, that traveler returned to Zimbabwe and told them the good news! "You're going to America".

Liyana arrived in the USA on January 1, 2009.

Students, Read about how Liyana got started and read their bios.
Students, Read about where Liyana went to school, and where they live
Teachers, Download a lesson plan to prep kids for the concert

Discover Afro-Fusion Music

Liyana's 2009 American Tour will introduce many audiences to Afro-fusion music.

Fusion music combines elements of different musical styles, sounds, or subjects. Afro-fusion music blends traditional African sounds, styles, or subjects with material from other global world cultures.

When a singer from another country performs an American song, he or she may choose to re-imagine the song by incorporating familiar home-country musical elements such as new tempos, rhythms, or phrasing. For example, when Prudence sings a song by Alicia Keyes, accompanied by Liyana instrumentalists playing home-made marimbas created in the African bush, the performance sounds much different from the original. When famous jazz musicians like Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, and Chick Corea incorporated synthesizers and electronic instruments into traditional jazz tunes, they were branded 'jazz fusion' artists.

A music historian might venture to say that of the two words used to label Liyana's music, Afro and Fusion, the more important word might be Fusion. Everyone would agree that Liyana's music fuses (or combines, mixes, blends, and mingles) elements of many of the world's cultures in a vibrant and fascinating whole. Everyone would also agree that Prudence and her band mates are from Africa, but they would probably not agree that there is a universally accepted definition of what represents 'African' culture.

Africa is a large and diverse continent filled with individuals representing many cultures, experiences, and walks of life. On the other hand, just as there are certain aspects of American culture that are commonly shared, there are aspects of African culture that are widely embraced across the vast geography of the continent. So, while Liyana is an Afro-fusion band, their music is uniquely their own.

Liyana's Afro-fusion style includes elements of Gospel, Reggae, Gospel, Pop, Folk, and Zimbabwean Shona music, shaped by a mix of both indigenous and foreign instruments. But all of this provides only a foundation for the distinctive voice of its lead singer, whose musical phrasing and delivery of lyrics emulates the distinctive musical traditions passed down by her ancestors.

If Liyana songs were tapestries, meaning things you could look at rather than hear, surely they would all be made up of fabric. Yet each might be a different size or color with varied textures, seamlessly connected into a unique whole. While each would be a blanket that could keep you warm (like any blanket), you might prefer one to another because of its very special combinations of elements such as shape, color, and texture.

Liyana's approach to Afro-fusion music borrows from the traditions of one of world's great continents, yet it also reveals deep knowledge of a larger world, where people everywhere share the same hopes and dreams for a better tomorrow.

DOWNLOADS FOR CLASSROOMS

For teachers, students, and concert collaborators

CONCERT PREPARATION MATERIALS

Contents
Liyana Listening Lesson - with adaptations and extensions
Use: to introduce students to Liyana and discuss audience etiquette.
Links: to multi-cultural studies, social studies, music, and media.

Youth Reporter Program
Use: to engage students in critical review of Liyana program.
Links: to critical and reportorial writing, journalism, and current events.

Write a Thank You letter -- to Liyana!
Use: to revisit the Liyana Concert experience and to express appreciation.
Links: language, creative writing, grammar, interpersonal etiquette.

Lyrics for Concerts and Classrooms
Use: to prepare for Liyana Concerts -- performers or audience.
Links: to music, poetry, language/literature, and global studies.

iThemba Lami -- a South African Song to be sung by audiences in all venues
Use: to prepare for Liyana concerts or for Listening Lesson
Links: to geography, music, social studies, listening, and performing

Authors
Dr. Deborah Briggs, Senior Research Associate, Center for Arts Education Research at Teachers College, Columbia University; Executive Director, Plutzik Goldwasser Family Foundation, New York City;  Director of Philanthropy, The Betsy Hotel, South Beach
Ms. Susan Rotkovitz, Director, Arts Integration Institute; Adjunct Professor, Department of Theatre, College of Fine Arts at Towson University

Advisors
Dr. Harold Abeles, Professor of Music Education, Co-Director, Center for Arts Education Research
Dr. Leslie King Hammond, Graduate Dean Emeritus, Director, Center for Race and Culture, Maryland Institute, College of Art

More Downloads for Classrooms

Musical Activities and Project Ideas
FOR USING LIYANA'S NEW CD — SUGAR RHYTHMS
(sing, choreograph, play, research, reflect)

Provided to the Liyana Tour by

Dr. Lori Custodero, Professor
Amanda Byrd, Erik Holmgren, Nate Olson, Graduate Assistants

Music and Music Education Program Department of Arts and Humanities
Teachers College Columbia University