About the Bizung School

Who We Are

Where it all began

 

The Bizung School of Music and Dance in Tamale, Ghana is a local non-profit organziation offering cultural and creative opportunities to local youth.

Founded in 2010, by muscian Mohammed Alidu and the Playing For Change Foundation, the Bizung School serves to preserve and promote traditional Dagomba culture practiced in Northern Ghana for more than a millenium. The Bizung School reaches more than 100 youth, musicians, and dancers throughout Tamale, and is the only cultural center accessible free-of-charge for underserved populations within the city.

 

Where it all began

Who Are We?

 

The Bizung School of Music and Dance in Tamale, Ghana is a local non-profit organziation offering cultural and creative opportunities to local youth.

Founded in 2010, by muscian Mohammed Alidu and the Playing For Change Foundation, the Bizung School serves to preserve and promote traditional Dagomba culture practiced in Northern Ghana for more than a millenium. The Bizung School reaches more than 100 youth, musicians, and dancers throughout Tamale, and is the only cultural center accessible free-of-charge for underserved populations within the city.

 

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Weekly music lessons

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Traditional music and dance activities

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Professional music studio

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International cultural exchanges

Alidu and the Bizung School have hosted or participated in international cultural exchange projects for more than a decade, both abroad and in Tamale. Alidu has regularly brough American university students from schools like Tufts University or Ohio State University to learn Dagomba music and dance.

In 2020, Alidu and Bizung students appeared in the ‘Peace Through Music: a Global Event for Social Justice’ virtual concert organized in partnership with PFCF and the United Nations Population Fund, and in 2021 Alidu and more than 20 traditional drummers participated in the Untied Nations tribute to percussionists around the world, to be released in the fall.

Since 2020, vocal students have participated in an international song writing project faciliated over Zoom and the collaborative music recording app Soundtrap with students from three other music programs across the United States, Mexico, and Nepal. The project is currently underway.

Our Partners

 

Tamale is a city with more than 300,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the Northern region of Ghana. The main languages spoken in the area are Dagbani and English. The Bizung School of Music and Dance is located in an area of town called the Norrip Village. Every afternoon from Monday to Friday, dozens of kids attend classes at the school to study music and dance. 

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THE TEAM

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Director and co-founder
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Coordinator
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Drums teacher
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Dance teacher
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Percussion and Dance teacher
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Xylophone teacher
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Vocal teacher
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Drumset teacher
Transparency

Where the money goes

The Bizung School of Music and Dance is a registered Ghanian non-profit organization based in Tamale, Northern Region primarily focusing on operating the school and identifying partners to grow and expand its impact on communities in Ghana.

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WHAT WE TEACH

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Traditional Dance

Multiple West African dances from different origins through different teachers: Sinte, Jera, Bamaya…

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Luan (Talking Drum)

The Luan (or Lunga) is a large talking drum from the Northern Region of Ghana.

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Kpalogo

These traditional drums originate from the Greater Accra region but are an important  part of the drumming tradition in Ghana

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Xylophone

The African xylophone is the ancestor of the marimba and somehow of the modern piano. 

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Gon Guan

Specific to the Northern Region of Ghana, the Gon Guan is a large traditional bass drum with a snare wire

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Guitar

Guitar classes are taking place on a weekly basis at the Bizung School.

Record your music in Tamale!

The Bizung recording studio offers professional quality equipment in Tamale, Ghana. Come to the Bizung school and record your upcoming album in the heart of West Africa.