LENFEST SERIES: Mamadou Diabaté & Company

LENFEST'S 35TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Mamadou Diabaté & Percussion Mania
Thursday, March 4, 2027 at 7:30 p.m.
Keller Theatre/Lenfest Center

Tickets are required. General Public: $28 ; Senior: $25; W&L Faculty & Staff: $20; W&L Student: FREE with ID; Student: $8

Taxes and processing fees included in ticket pricing.

The master of the talking BALAFON! An explosion of energy on stage!

Get ready to move. Mamadou Diabaté—award-winning balafon master, composer and son of Burkina Faso—leads Percussion Mania, the only ensemble in the world built around two balafons as lead instruments. This isn't just a concert. It's a journey deep into the heart of West African heritage, delivered with world-class musicianship.

Virtuosic balafon runs, driving African rhythms and soaring chants collide into one electrifying scene-the kind that makes it impossible to sit still. This is music that speaks: it translates the Sambla language directly into sound, so authentically that only musicians who actually speak the language can actually play it.

At the heart of it all: two balafons, front and center, trading fire in a way no other West African band does. Watch brothers Mamadou and Seydou lock into spectacular musical dialogue-it's one of the most electrifying moments of the show.

Born into a traditional Griot family-the storytellers and musicians of the Sambla people-Mamadou carries generations of tradition in every note. Now he brings the sun of West Africa and the vibrant color of a bustling market straight to the Keller stage.

Performance is supported in part by the Class of ’64 and World Music.

Ticket Information

Showtimes: Thursday, March 4, 2027 at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Keller Theatre, Lenfest Hall

General Public: $28 ; Senior: $25; W&L Faculty & Staff: $20; W&L Student: FREE with ID Student: $8