Griot

Because Mssng Lnks recognizes the tremendous cultural importance of recording, archiving and passing down music to future generations, a key objective of ourwork is helping to preserve and promote the legacy of minority musicians and composers in the fields of musical theatre and classical vocal music.

To facilitate the research, collection and “cultural inheritance” of works specifically by African-American and Hispanic composers, we established the Griot Institute for World Music Research — named after the “griots” who were historically appointed to preserve their village’s traditions and customs. Our goal is simple: to help members of the entire music community access, learn about and enjoy, and share music with other music lovers. By collecting music and creating a central repository, we can help ensure that this valuable music will still be around to be appreciated for years to come.

Mssng Lnks is currently accepting music donations to be included in the library. We will gratefully accept either sheet music or electronic files from students, schools, church or music groups, or anyone else who understands the compelling need for an easily accessible music repository celebrating the talents of often overlooked composers.

Please consider donating music and other related materials to help keep the works of minority composers alive. Obviously, the more users who participate by sharing music, the more usable our library will become to more people. We are currently accepting donations of archival music scores, theatre scripts, recordings and videos. Contact us if you have questions about donating.

Donations can be mailed to us at the following address:

Mssng Lnks, Inc.
c/o Sam Martinborough
P.O. Box 230913
Boston, MA 02123

We encourage you to visit our site often to review the catalog of music that will be available for users to browse and download. For songs currently in print, we will include PDFs of select sections of the song for you to listen to. For songs out of print, we will provide you the contact information for the publishing house you need to first contact in order to get permission to make any photocopies. Contact us for additional copy guidelines.

Below is a list of links to other sites that feature world music and the music of African American and Hispanic composers.

Choirs/Ensembles

Tuks Camerata, University of Pretoria, South Africa  
www.tukscamerata.up.ac.za

Grupo de Canto Coral, Argentina
http://www.gcc.org.ar

Anuna, Ireland
http://www.anuna.ie

Muungano National Choir, Kenya
http://www.africanchorus.org/Artists/MNC1.htm

Composers

Brent Michael Davids, Native American Indian
www.brentmichaeldavids.com

Shireen Abu-khader, Lebanese
www.dozan-awtar.com
http://www.kingsacademy.edu.jo

Music by Peter Buffet
www.peterbuffett.com

Organizations

African Heritage in Classical Music
www.africlassical.com

Center for Black Music Research
www.colum.edu/cbmr

Choralnet
http://www.choralnet.org

International Federation for Choral Music
www.ifcm.net

World Festival of Sacred Music
http://www.festivalofsacredmusic.org

World Music
http://www.worldmusic.org

Publishers

World Music Press
http://www.worldmusicpress.com

Earthsongs           
www.earthsongsmus.com

Alliance Music - Ramon Noble Choral Series
www.alliancemusic.com

Kjos Music, Latin American Choral Series
www.kjos.com

N Time Music - Gospel Music
www.ntimemusic.com