The stars of this series are our “tools” – the instruments. Audiences learn about them through authentic live performances by expert musicians. We shall be travelling the world. Children who attend the Saturday morning concerts and the subsequent instrumental demonstrations will encounter music and rarely seen instruments from different parts of the world. The djembe is a traditional West African percussion instrument. It is believed to have originated with the Mandinka tribe blacksmiths, known... as the Numu, and it seems that widespread migrations a thousand years ago led to their drum making knowledge spreading to other peoples. Its characteristic sound is primarily due to its cylindrical form which narrows from the base, only to expand into a funnel shape at the top. Across the top is usually stretched either goat or calf skin (and earlier, zebra or antelope) which gives its characteristic sonority. Tradition has it that three spirits live in the djemba: the spirit of wood from which the drum is carved, the spirit of the animal which provided its hide and the spirit of the drum maker without whose expertise this drum could not have been made The kora is another Mandinka instrument which has many strings and according to legend was the property of a spirit woman living in a cave. Commander Tira Maghan heard her miraculous playing and decided to acquire the instrument to encourage the Mandinka tribesmen on their hunts and to protect them from danger. The kora is now the most widely spread instrument of West Africa, and plays an important role in bands playing traditional and modern music. Our partner helping us realise this series is the Ethnosound world music shop.
Parking information
We wish to inform you that in the event that Müpa Budapest's underground garage and outdoor car park are operating at full capacity, it is advisable to plan for increased waiting times when you arrive. In order to avoid this, we recommend that you depart for our events in time, so that you you can find the ideal parking spot quickly and smoothly and arrive for our performance in comfort. The Müpa Budapest underground garage gates will be operated by an automatic number plate recognition system. Parking is free of charge for visitors with tickets to any of our paid performances on that given day. The detailed parking policy of Müpa Budapest is available here.
Safe ticket purchase
Dear Visitors, please note that only tickets purchased from the Müpa website and official ticket offices are guaranteed to be valid. To avoid possible inconvenience, we suggest buying tickets to our performances and concerts via the mupa.hu website, the Interticket national network (jegy.hu) or at our official ticket offices.