Join NOVA RPCV's and Sara Holtz on July 29th  7:00-8:30pm for another free concert at Reston Station (1901 Reston Metro Plaza, Reston, VA 20190). Cheick Hamala Diabate: Traditional West African music of Mali, will be performing and the concert is free and part of Reston's Take a Break Concert Series.

Cheick Hamala Diabate is a musician and Grammy award nominee from Mali, West Africa. A steward of the 800-year-old tradition of the Griot, the storytellers of West Africa, Cheick Hamala shares the oral history, music, and song of his culture as it was passed on to him from birth by parent to child. At an early age, Cheick Hamala mastered the ngoni, a stringed lute and ancestor to the banjo. He learned to play the guitar from his uncle, and now plays banjo and several other instruments; but his renown remains with the historical ngoni.

Sara Holtz who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo is excited to host this event. Please email her should you have any questions prior to the event at [email protected]. She will be in the plaza with a Peace Corps sign. If there are thunderstorms or inclement weather, the event may be canceled and you will be notified. Sara also recommends bringing lawn or beach chairs as there are limited benches for seating.

The concert is located at the Wiehle Metro Station and is metro accessible. Parking is free at ParkX and not the Metro garage. Hang on to the parking ticket you get when you first enter the ParkX garage. Parking validation will be done by Reston Community Center (RCC) staff. There will be an announcement at the beginning and the end of the performance on where to get the validation tickets.You will need this validation to exit the garage.

Please RSVP on the NOVA/RPCV event page here by selecting "RSVP without logging in" at the top of the page. After you RSVP you will receive a confirmation email and reminders about the event.