Sona Jobarteh-Badinyaa Kumoo

Sona Jobarteh is the first professional female Kora virtuoso to come from any of the West African Griot dynasties. Her lineage carries a formidable reputation for renowned Kora masters, most notable amongst these are her grandfather Amadu Bansang Jobarteh and her cousin, the legendary Toumani Diabaté.

Sona is reputed for her skill as an instrumentalist, her distinctive voice, infectious melodies and her grace onstage, and she has rapidly achieved international success as a top class performer.

The demand for Sona Jobarteh’s live performances has rocket in recent years, and 2019 saw her perform at some of the world’s most renowned festivals and venues such as the Hollywood Bowl in LA, WOMAD in Australia and New Zealand and Symphony Space in New York City, whilst also performing all over Europe, in China, Africa and Canada.

Sona has the unique ability to touch audiences from all over the world and from all backgrounds and cultures, whilst also commanding the attention of sitting presidents and royalty alike. Her captivating stage show has proved to be popular everywhere, and with a repertoire that exudes accessible sophistication, her audience demographic is forever expanding.

As a vocalist, Sona has featured in award-winning films such as the Hollywood movie Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and The First Grader – the latter winning the “Discovery of the Year” prize at the Hollywood World Soundtrack Awards in 2012.

Sona Jobarteh's musical expertise is underpinned by her skills as composer. During her teenage years she majored in western classical composition at the Purcell School of Music in the UK, as well as studying cello, piano and harpsichord at the Royal College of Music. In 2010 she landed her first commission scoring the soundtrack for film ‘Motherland’. Here she cultivated a fresh sound-world in African cinematic music. The film went on to collect multiple awards around the world.

More recently, she was commissioned by PRS to compose a piece for Western and African instruments, exploring the meeting points between these two worlds through a dynamic, musical journey. In 2019, her composition, titled 'Innovation Through Preservation' was premiered at the South Bank’s renowned Purcell Room, in London and was aired on the BBC. The piece was lauded by The Observer newspaper as uniting West African and Western Classical sounds “…to exuberant and poetic effect.”





1. Musolou 07:41
2. Dunoo (Feat. Musa Filly Jobarteh) 04:23
3. Kambengwo (Feat. Youssou N'Dour) 08:29
4. Ballaké (Feat. Ballaké Sissoko) 04:55
5. Fondinkeeya 05:43
6. Kafaroo (Feat. Ravid Kahalani) 07:02
7. Ubuntu 05:12
8. Gambia 05:10
9. Nna Kangwo (Feat. Jock Webb) 05:43
10. Nna Mooya (Feat. Kirk Whalum) 06:40
11. Meeya 05:30
12. Taariko (Feat. Zihirina Maiga) 06:02