Mandingmorry Academy of Music (MAM)

BIO

The Mandingmorry Academy of Music (MAM) is a music academy in The Gambia that was established in 2012. The institution trains young aspiring talents and provide them with professional music training and mentorship towards their development as self-employed youths in The Gambia.

In 2011, MAM founded the Mandingmorry Foundation for Performing Arts (MANFOPA) a non-profit and non-partisan charitable arts organization. The aim of MANFOPA was to enhance professionalism, building capacity and creating opportunities for livelihoods in the performing arts and encourage public participation in the arts.

After the elapse of the project they introduced Reggae Kunda Festival to sustain the school operation. In 2014, they graduated their first batch of 18 students out of 23 students who were awarded with free scholarship and are learning basic music education at the school.

The academy offers 12 months of learning music theory, vocal lessons, arts and culture studies, guitar, drum sets, and keyboards. The course forms the basic understanding of how to sing, play and compose and write quality music. The curriculum criterion is set to ensure that every student knows how to play an instrument and it is compulsory for every student to learn one traditional Gambian instrument (Kora, Balafong and Djembe).
In 2015, they graduated their second batch of 23 students who has successfully completed free professional music training both practical and theory.