Dhow Countries Music Academy

Immerse yourself deep into the roots of Zanzibar's culture Inside the beautiful building, in the patio, you will get to enjoy live music every night by 8pm. Local young professional musicians will create a magic atmosphere were you will navigate, dance and feel Zanzibar's rhythms and melodies. By enjoying this gigs in Stone Town you are actually supporting the NGO that runs this project: empowering youth through music in Zanzibar. Personally, meeting the musicians was the best piece of my time in this island. hugs!

Great concerts at 8pm. Make sure to check them out! We went to hear some afro jazz. Was a fantastic evening

We had the luck to be in Zanzibar on a Thursday night. This day they have a concert (10.000 chillings entry) in the last floor of the building. The music was just amazing, and you could see how passionate the musicians were. Is a rather small room so the concert was quite private. It was definitely one of the best things of my trip to Zanzibar and I would recommend checking their program for other concerts.

Went on a Monday night to hear some “Afro-Fusion” music. We were very excited and went earlier in the day time to the Customs House where we met some of the musicians with some zithers and other traditional instruments. They told us it would be a mix of modern and traditional. When we arrived at night they were not there and instead we had a guitar player who had a totally detuned guitar and a bass player with detuned bass. The drummers were fine and the singer would have been nice if not for the guitar and bass. We left after a few songs since it wasn’t tolerable to hear music so out of sync. Its a shame to charge $7 a person for this. It’s one thing if the band knows what they are doing, but if they are simply students, it should be free, donation based or very reduced. I am a musician and music student myself - I can’t see this place making much of a return community if the point is just to charge tourists a fee to watch student practice. We want nothing more to come and see some taraab or other style music but last night made us totally lose interest in the space. I truly don’t mean for such a direct criticism but I think it’s important that the music school fosters a community with the visitors as well as locals. Maybe we just came on a bad night?

This is the only music academy in Zanzibar, promoting talented musicians and traditional musical styles from the region. The quality of performance is exceptional and the social impact of the academy is impressive. I strongly urge anyone visiting stone town to pay them a visit. Concerts are a couple of times a week at 8 pm.

An amazing music school with a breathtaking view of the ocean. They often have concerts here so be sure to walk by and see what’s on for the week. Concerts are definitely worth checking out, beautiful loca Taraab music will give you a sense and feel of what Zanzibar truly really is. They also give classes, fun one to try out is the African drum classes.

I really enjoyed the performance of Taarab. It was great to see the artists perform and meet them after. I am very disappointed by the CD however. I wanted to support the project and art and bought it for10$; it's just a burned CD and many songs are recorded in such poor quality that listening not very enjoyable. Go see their performance but stay away from their CD!

A wonderful place to visit with very friendly people! A must-visit if you want to have a more genuine taste of the music and culture in Zanzibar. Thank you for your hospitality 😊