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About

Momi Maiga is a Senegalese musician, composer, and singer based in Catalonia, and one of the most distinctive voices of a new generation of West African artists in Europe. Born in Casamance into the renowned Cissokho griot family, he began playing the kora at the age of six and has since developed a unique musical language that blends Mandé traditions with jazz, flamenco, and classical music.

With a captivating stage presence and deep emotional expression, he has toured across Europe and collaborated with artists such as Youssou N’Dour, Jordi Savall, Seckou Keita and Amaro Freitas. His latest album, KAIRO (2024), was awarded Best Album non-catalan at the Enderrock Awards 2025.

Highlights & Awards

 

Awards

• Emerging Talent Alicia Awards 2024 – Emerging Talent Award
• Enderrock Awards 2025 – Best World Music Album (KAIRO)

Collaborations

• Youssou N’Dour
• Jordi Savall
• Seckou Keita
• Silvia Pérez Cruz
• Amaro Freitas

Orchestral Projects

• New arrangements premiered in 2024 with the Granollers Chamber Orchestra
• Performed in leading theatres across Catalonia

Educational & Cultural Projects

• Creator of an intercultural music & storytelling program
• Presented across Europe in schools, festivals, and theatres and auditoriums.

Latest Album

• KAIRO (2024)
A poetic and emotional journey exploring migration, resilience and hope. Co-produced by major Mediterranean festivals and toured across Europe.

Momi Maiga - Quartet - Orchestra - Educational Project

Amaro Freitas & Momi Maiga

More about Momi Maiga

 

Momi Maiga is a Senegalese kora player, singer, and composer whose music bridges cultures and generations. Born into the prestigious Cissokho family of griots in Casamance (southern Senegal), he was immersed from childhood in the Mandé musical tradition, which he honours and reimagines through his work. At the age of six, he began playing the kora, an instrument that has become his voice and creative compass.

Now based in Catalonia, Maiga is widely recognized for his soulful presence on stage and his unique ability to blend the sounds of West African heritage with jazz, flamenco, and European classical music. His compositions are deeply personal, evoking themes of migration, resilience, and human connection — always grounded in tradition, yet open to the world.

With a clear artistic identity and a poetic approach to sound, Maiga has performed in major venues and festivals across Europe, collaborating with artists such as Youssou N’Dour, Jordi Savall, Seckou Keita, Amaro Freitas and Silvia Pérez Cruz. 

His latest album, KAIRO (2024), has received critical acclaim and was awarded Best World Music Album at the Premis Enderrock 2025.

Maiga is also deeply committed to intercultural dialogue and education, leading artistic projects that combine music and storytelling in schools and cultural institutions throughout Europe.

With his ensemble, Momi Maiga invites audiences into an emotional journey — one where virtuosity, presence, and authenticity meet.

Contact

Management – Núria Domènech
+34 695 53 90 12
info@momimaiga.com

Booking for contact

Bigoraphy

Momi Maiga stands out as a virtuoso on his instrument, the kora, as well as for his vocal fluidity and as a curious, self-taught composer with an amazing musical sensitivity. Momi was born in 1997 in Gambia, at four he went to live with her maternal family in Ziguinchor, the capital of Casamance, the southern region of Senegal. Immersed in a vast musical heritage, he grew up in the midst of the renowned Cissokho family, a family of Djelis. The Djelis of West Africa are dynasties of musicians, troubadours, mediators and transmitters of culture who have used music and songs to transmit history, values ​​and messages of peace to society for centuries and up to the present day. Momi was educated among its rich musical traditions, learning the extensive repertoire of oral tradition, watching and listening. At the age of six he began to play the kora thanks to one of his uncles, Solo Cissokho (may he rest in peace), who had order to make a small kora when he saw little Momi’s interest in learning to play it. The kora is one of West Africa’s most revered instruments, and the Cissokho family have been the guardians of this 21 or 22 stringed African lute-harp for centuries. However, his journey as a musician began as a side musician at his uncles’ concerts and ceremonies as a percussionist. He only played the kora at home, in his room. All his uncles, grandparents and cousins ​​play the kora, even a member of the family builds it. Many of them have an international professional career, as is the case of his uncles Solo Cissokho, Sadio Cissokho, Maher Cissokho and his cousins ​​Seckou Keita, Amadou Susso, Suntu Susso, Ibou Cissokho among others. Thus, following the historical legacy of his family, his artistic heritage links him with a deep connection with the Mandinka traditions and their repertoires. 

His journey as a kora player began in 2015, collaborating with the band of the renowned musician Ale Möller Band from Sweden. In 2016 he played a concert with the local Ziguinchor Hip Hop group Djali Kunda. In 2017 he traveled to France with the Dakar group Weuzz et le Samara. In 2018 he made his first stay in Barcelona, invited by the Barcelona Music Museum, and recorded the voice for the album Goor, by the pianist Adrià González. The same year he performed a concert at the Fuerteventura International Blues Festival, and a couple of concerts in Stockholm, Sweden.

A few months later, in mid-2019, Momi was once again invited to Spain through the Barcelona Museum of Ethnology and World Cultures. It is at this moment that he decides to settle in Catalonia in order to shape his projects and record his first album. Shortly after, meetings and live collaborations with musicians such as Seckou Keita, Sílvia Pérez Cruz, Idan Raichel, Ferran Savall, Judit Neddermann, Erik Rydvall,  Ignacio María Gómez, Aleix Tobias, among others, begin. Maiga quickly distinguishes himself as a daring composer and eager to merge with other musicians and musical genres. He sings mainly in Mandinka and Wolof, while reflecting on outstanding themes of our time and the importance of preserving the purest human values, such as solidarity, respect, love and dignity. In his first debut album entitled Nio, he presents a work in which he combines ethnic jazz, flamenco and the sounds of his Mandinka roots. He fuses the kora with classical instruments such as the violin and cello, and embarks on a journey that leads to the start of a promising musical career. With a spectacular premiere at the end of 2021 at the Fira Mediterrània in Manresa, Momi drew the attention of national and international promoters. He gets a premature sold out, and the standing audience clearly shows their enthusiastic admiration.

Resident in Spain  for only four years, Momi Maiga is beginning to make a name for himself on the national music scene, and is taking part in the cultural and musical diversity of the territory.

With a total of 43 concerts performed in 2023 in theatres, auditoriums and festivals, Momi Maiga continues to present his debut album NIO (Microscopio label), released in October 2022. 

He has 15 more concerts confirmed to take place this year 2023 between Spain, France, Belgium and Holland.

He is also committed for the premiere of his second album (October 2024) at the Aphónica Festival in Banyoles (pre-premiere concert), the Mediterranean Fair in Manresa (absolute premiere) and the Oslo World Festival in Norway.

Media such as RTVE, World Music Charts Europe, Transglobal Music Chart, All Ears Music Review, Rac1, Ràdio 3, Enderrock, among others, are echoing the progress of the young Senegalese artist, who at each performance leaves an emotional mark on the audience, journalists, promoters and programmers attending.

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