Ny Malagasy Orchestra
(Madagascar Orchestra)

Documentary 58mn. 2009
Author : Christian PASSUELLO
Production : Chamaerops Productions
TV broadcasting : RFO, France Ô

One almost always speaks of Malagasy music throughout their regional origin (Southern Music, Highland Music, Northern Music…), without trying to find a syncretism or a fusion of styles in any way. It is however obvious that tight links bind all this traditions and everything tends to cross them trough an orchestra.
In order to create a national orchestra, one has to gather musicians form the whole ethnicities of the island. It’s also about exhibiting traditional musical instrument, often unknown: Violin-Calabash, bamboo Vali, traditional percussion, flutes, diatonic accordion, kabossy, mandolin or South violin… hearings could also allow us to discover other unidentified instruments among the 54 instruments already recognized by enthomusiclogists.

The idea for such a gathering of musicians came from Justin Vali. Originally from Madagascar Highlands, he is the inheritor of family roots in music which they used to play for the past Malagasy kings.

The “Ny Malagasy Orchestra” is also a way to create social and cultural links between the different ethnicities from Malagasy population. From a practical point of view, the creation of this band will generate a strong economical potential, for it mobilizes many people inside the island as well as outside.

See the trailer