The Colonial Performing Arts Center

The Keene International Festival has grown since it's beginnings in 2019, when it was launched as an annual festival. Attendance now is closer to 1900. The Colonial partners with the festival annually by curating a professional international artist to be the featured live performance on the festival stage. This year that artist is Balla Kouyate. He is a renowned balafon player and “djeli” who is originally from Mali and currently based in the U.S. Kouyate teaches at the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music, has collaborated with artists such as Yo Yo Ma and Angelique Kidjo, and is recognized by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts as an NEA National Heritage Fellow.
Balla will perform for 30 – 45 minutes on the festival stage and will be available for a meet and greet for festival attendees at The Colonial tent, in addition he will bring materials to engage up to 30 participants in a “bucket band” workshop (See video example here: https://youtu.be/LTRFwojjifg)