Introduction to Congolese Rumba Ensemble Workshops with Jean-René Balekita

Event Information
Event Date: 
October 2, 2018 - 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Venue: 
Music Building, Room 0304
Address: 
1114 W. Nevada Street, Urbana, IL
Description: 

These non-credit sessions are offered free of charge. Register by email with Jason Finkelman, finkelma@illinois.edu

The Robert E. Brown Center for World Music is offering University of Illinois students, faculty and staff the opportunity to learn Congolese Rumba from guitarist, singer and percussionist Jean-René Balekita. Over the course of eight weekly sessions, participants will be introduced to Congolese Rumba styles and the rhythms associated with the music.

Jean-René Balekita, taught songwriting and choral classes to undergraduates at the National Institute of Arts in Kinshasa from 2008-2015 where he earned Bachelor (2013) and Associate (2000) degrees. In 2001 he founded the group Bomoyi to perform original songs blending Congolese Rumba and Gospel styles, released popular recordings and music videos in DR Congo, which led Bomoyi to tours of Europe and the United States in 2009. When Bomoyi returned to the United States in 2015, Balekita settled in Urbana-Champaign, IL where he has since performed on the University of Illinois campus at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Spurlock Museum and University YMCA, in our community at Urbana Free Library and Crystal Lake Park, in local elementary schools including Westview and St. Matthew, and in many area churches including First Presbyterian Church of Champaign and First United Methodist Church of Champaign. Balekita is committed to sharing cultural arts of his country and reaching people from different socio-cultural backgrounds through music. He is currently a teaching artist at the Community Center for the Arts in Urbana.

The Robert E. Brown Center for World Music is pleased to present Jean-René Balekita as a visiting artist-in-residence of the center. This engagement program is support by the School of Music and the College of FAA.

Admission: 
Free Admission
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