All Longy students present full recitals as part of their education and ongoing evolution as artists. They are charged with thinking critically about what stories they tell, whose voices to amplify, and who’s in the room for their event while also considering how to use performance spaces in innovative ways and how to truly engage audiences and create interactive music experiences.
Temidayo Balogun is a student of Noah Preminger.
Program Notes from Temidayo:
IDENTICAL STRUGGLES (A Journey to Motherland Africa) is based on our struggles as a people but more importantly, Africa’s internal struggles which are mostly rooted in ethnic prejudice and bigotry.
I have come to realize that as a people in this world, our struggles are identical, and together and united we can find solutions more efficiently.
The music rhythmically and harmonically is rooted in genres from West Africa like High-life, and Afrobeats but also intersects with elements from the jazz tradition. The music is also influenced by some sounds from traditional folk music based on the spirituality of the Yoruba people.
Temidayo Balogun is a saxophonist, talking drummer, composer, educator, and pan-Africanist from Osun state, Nigeria. While growing up, Temidayo had listened to a lot of west-African music with his late Father who was a music enthusiast, specifically, a lover of Yoruba art music. At the age of 6, Temidayo started his musical journey by learning different African instruments like talking drum, agbamole, agogo, and shekere.
As a composer and seeker, Temidayo considers his music rooted in the Yoruba’s diverse cultural practices and other West-African musical genres both rhythmically and harmonically.
Thanks to our partnership with the Massachusetts Cultural Council and their “Card to Culture” program, Longy School of Music of Bard College can offer free tickets to many of our diverse and innovative performance offerings. See the full list of participating “Card to Culture” organizations offering EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare discounts.