alpha oumar 'Bongo' Sidibe
Artistic Director
Bongo Sidibe is a musician from Guinea, West Africa and moved to the Bay Area from Guinea in 2008. He studied drumming from master djembe player Mamady Keita beginning at age 9 and is a culture bearer preserving the rich musical traditions of West Africa. Bongo believes in the power of music to unite people and create a more inclusive world.
As the Co-Artistic Director of Duniya Dance and Drum Company, Bongo directs evening-length West African music and dance performances, including “The Madness of the Elephant” about Guinea’s first president, Sekou Touré. In addition to being a drummer, Bongo leads the band Bongo Sidibe and the TonTons, which has performed at the Joshua Tree Music Festival, The Chapel SF, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, Laurel Street World Music Festival and more. He has also performed with Joan Baez, Cass McCombs, and the Dogon Lights. In addition to djembe, Bongo plays the dhol from Punjab, India and has composed and performed music for “Half and Halves” about the Punjabi-Mexican communities of California and “Ghadar Geet: Blood and Ink” about the revolutionary Ghadar Party from the early 20th century, which fought for India’s independence from Britain.
Bongo is a dedicated arts educator and teaches West African drumming with the SF Ballet, Ruth Asawa SF School of the Arts, LEAP, San Francisco Arts Education, East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, and Destiny Arts Center. He drums for a weekly West African dance class at Dance Mission, and many performances for cultural events. Bongo collaborated with the African Advocacy Network to present the African Arts Festival in 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022. Bongo has received funding from the California Arts Council, Wattis Foundation, Haas Foundation, the Creative Work Fund and San Francisco Arts Commission to support his work in African communities of the Bay Area. He focuses on providing paid artistic work for many Guinean and Senegalese artists in the Bay Area. Bongo and his wife, Duniya’s other Co-Artistic Director Joti Singh, lead a bi-annual trip to Guinea, West Africa and founded the Duniya Center for Arts and Education in Conakry, where Guinean artists learn marketing, computer skills and English.
