Commonwealth Connections

The Hon. Dolores Balderamos Garcia is a politician, lawyer and broadcaster. The only woman of the 31 members of Belize's House of Representatives, she is particularly interested in improving the rights of women and children and in supporting those living with HIV and AIDS . Before she became so involved in politics she hosted her own jazz show on the radio and owns an enormous jazz collection of well over 1,000 CDs. Here, she chooses the music of the Lord Rhaburn Combo to express her deep love of the close-knit communities of Belize and to give us a sense of the Belizean zest for life.

Within these small Islands, steelpan orchestras are an integral part of daily life. The Pamberi pan yard on the outskirts of Port of Spain is a meeting place for the whole community whether they turn up to play cards, have a sociable drink together or learn many artforms from painting to dance to music. For the young people in the steelpan orchestra, this is a passion and the way they choose to spend several evenings of their week and although they play all kinds of music it is still their native Calypso which gathers the largest crowd wherever they go.

Measuring eight square miles with a total coastline of eighteen and a half miles and a population of just over nine thousand, the Pacific island of Nauru is arguably the least populous actual sovereign country in the world, although officially the Vatican State and then Monaco occupy the first and second spots. Situated in Micronesia, Nauru lies 2,800 miles north east of Australia, and used to be called Pleasant Island before independence in 1968. Itte Detenamo is a super heavyweight lifter, and his chosen music is of Nauruan songs composed by Baron Waqa, a songwriter who is currently the nation's President.

Kala Ramnath is one of the leading Hindustani musicians of her generation. Born into a dynasty of violin players who championed the instrument in Indian classical music in the 20th century, Kala has developed the instrument still further with a mixture of traditional and improvisational repertoire. In her home in Mumbai, Kala demonstrates just how closely the violin is modelled on the human voice.

Saxophonist Manu Dibango brought the sound of Cameroon to the world but also brought a bit of the world back into Cameroon, creating a glorious fusion of African Funk and Jazz. Weightlifter Vanatius Njuh is going for Gold in the 69 kilo class at the Commonwealth Games and through a computer at his training camp in Cameroon he's been talking about his hopes for the competition and how music fits into it.

Seven kilometres from the world heritage site of Victoria Falls, in the Southern Province lies the rural Mukuni village, the main village of the Mukuni Chiefdom. It was founded in the 13th century by the Leya Tribal Matriarch and is today presided over by both a male and female leader. The Leya people keep alive their heritage in simple surroundings with dancing, singing and drumming for particular occasions and to communicate certain messages. The women of the village perform for us a traditional brewing dance complete with 12ft long poles for crushing grain while elsewhere in the village, the highly polished senior students at the secondary school in Mukuni village embrace the new modern Zambia with traditional, spiritual and rousingly patriotic songs.

Kiribati is an archipelago of 33 islands in the central Pacific, with a population of just one hundred thousand people across more than a million square miles of Ocean. Formerly the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati gained independence from the UK in 1979, and has participated in the Commonwealth Games since 1998. Weightlifter David Katoata became the first person from the country to formally qualify for the Olympics, and came 17th in London two years ago. His favourite Kiribati group is called Ruff Dogs with their song Salute.

On a rooftop beside Gulshan lake, above the bells of tuk tuks and sounds of the call to prayer, a group of musicians have gathered in the late afternoon in Dhaka. Baby Dewan sings Bhatiyali songs of the lonely boatmen who ply the waters here for a living and Baul musician Rob Fakir shares the mystical music and philosophy of one of the legendary Bauls of Bangladesh, Lalon Shah.

Writer and poet Philip Nanton chooses Credentials by Shake Keane, the well-known Vincentian jazz musician and poet, and explains how the story Shake tells encapsulates for him certain key aspects of life in St Vincent and the Grenadines, including migration and the welcome awaiting those who choose to return.

In the midst of the Seychelles Carnival, Latroupe Nasyonal Sesel, a ceilidh-style band of seven players and several young dancers are preparing their traditional music and dances for the celebrations. The music and dances of this Creole culture grew from the European traditional dances such as Quadrille and Waltz but the Seychelles people have made it their own with African rhythms and movements and a real love and joie-de-vivre of their Islands. Singer-songwriter Jean-Marc Volcy shares this passion for their fragile heritage and works to keep it alive in his own contemporary songs.

Formerly known as the Ellice Islands, Tuvalu is a Pacific island nation situated between Hawaii and Australia. Its population of just 11,200 means it the third-least populous sovereign state in the world. Tuvalu first took part in the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and since then has steadily increased its participation. But Tuvalu weightlifter Lapua Lapua isn't just an Olympian - he's a bit of a singer and guitarist too, and gave us a taste of the Pacific. The song is "Toku nukupele funafuti" by Tamaika Kofe.

Singapore is home to a very senior group of 'waijiang' musicians originating from Chaozhou in southern China. Their waijiang style of playing was popular in pre-cultural revolutionary China but is now extinct on the mainland. Yet in their small shop house in the Geylang neighbourhood these senior gentlemen still take pride in performing pieces such as 'Little Peach Red' and 'Pipa verse'. Not far away in Chinatown a group of young students from the Siong Leng Musical Association practice Nanyin or 'southern pipes music' - the traditional wooden flute and voice reminisce wistfully of home.

In the capital of Malaysia's southernmost state of Johor, traditional Malay Ghazal and Zapin dance music is popular despite the country's race to modernity. We hear from On Jaafar and Shafie Bin Ahmad how Zapin music and dance arrived with the Arab Missionaries and that the tradition of Ghazal came from Persia; graduating from royal palace performances to the local community.

Mozambique is something of an anomaly in terms of Commonwealth membership. It only became a member in 1995 and was never under British control. Instead the country was ruled by Portugal from 1505 until independence in 1975. As a result Portuguese remains the official language and strong ties remain between Mozambique and Portugal. Swimmer Jessica Teixeira Vieira is part of that story, having been raised on the island and has chosen to represent them at events such as the Olympics. Her chosen piece of music is a Marrabenta a musical form typical of Mozambique, and the song is A Nkama wa hi Siya sung by Mingas.

Athlete Jason Rogers (100m), living and training in Canada, chooses an example of the soca music so popular back home in the Caribbean islands of St Kitts and Nevis. Unstoppable Force by King Konris is deeply rooted in that country and speaks of the pride, dedication and energy of the people, something Jason finds inspiring as he looks forward to representing St Kitts and Nevis at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Across the source of the Nile at Jinja and eastwards towards the Kenyan border lies the remote and rural Bigwala Village. The last surviving musicians of the Royal courts are the Akadinda players, playing a giant wooden xylophone built across a pit in the ground. This impromptu concert at the village also features a rare opportunity to hear the gourd trumpets of Busoga, who have been named by UNESCO on the list of Important Cultural Heritages in need of urgent safeguarding. Meanwhile and by contrast in the leafy campus of Kyambogo University in Kampala, we meet one of the two Ennanga (Bow harp) players of Buganda.

In Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, Vesak celebrations are underway for the birth and enlightenment of Lord Buddha. The streets are thronged with families and traffic all heading to the town centre, colourful lanterns are lit and the sounds of music and prayer from the Gangaramaya Temple can be heard from nearby Beira Lake. Temple musicians play Thammetama and Davula drums and the Horenava as they call people to prayer. Outside the city centre Mr TS Murugesh is continuing the Tamil tradition of folk songs, he sings a story of rural love and hopes more will be done to promote this Sri Lankan musical style.

Jeffry Feeger, Papua New Guinea's leading visual artist, chooses the song West Papua by George Telek to express the deep-rooted Melanesian heritage his people share with those across the border in the west.

Whiri Tu Aka are a 5-piece all-female Maori a capella group founded by producer/vocalist Mina Ripa. Best known for her work in the field of electronica and dance music, this project was inspired by the birth of Mina's son to create music using only 'the power of the voice'. We hear a performance by the band recorded at a special event on Waitangi Day (February 6th) at a waterfront concert in Wellington. On this day in 1840 the country's founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed granting Maori people ownership of their lands and properties giving them the same rights as British subjects. The programme also features a unique collaboration with members of Whiri Tu Aka and Horomona Horo a practitioner of 'taonga puoro', the collective term given to a wide array of Maori instruments, recorded on the shores of Titahi Bay, Porirua in the North Island of New Zealand.

Writer and academic David Dabydeen is currently Guyana's ambassador to China. His Heritage Track is 'Not a Blade of Grass' by Dave Martins and the Tradewinds. For David the song prompts thoughts of Guyana's evolving relationship with Britain since independence in 1966, and of the opportunity for the Guyanese to renew their self-image and own their heritage.

Nigeria has long been a powerhouse in terms of world music, with artists like Fela Kuti reaching audiences around the globe. Our Commonwealth athlete this week is US Olympian but has chosen to represent Nigeria because her father was born there. And Regina George's choice of music is also very much within the family. The chosen track is "Sweet Sherry" by Eddy Okonta

Recorded at the African Heritage House outside Nairobi. Two generations of the Luo tribe perform the music of their people. Ayub Ogada has reached an international market as a world musician but here he returns to his acoustic roots and the ancient nyatiti lyre. This is the instrument of the Luo people and he has evolved a softer, gentler sound' to which he adds his distinctive soft sweet voice. In contrast, The Sega Sega Band, play Benga music, the style that is at the root of Kenyan pop music from the 60s to the present day. The melodies and rhythms are shaped by the tuning of the nyatiti harp and orutu, (a single string fiddle) but they have modernised the music to create uptempo dance music and transferred the musical lines to the modern guitar.

Vanuatu - which literally means freestanding - has only existed as an independent country since 1980. It has a population of less than quarter of a million, but despite that has a strong reputation for table tennis, especially in the shape of Anolyn Lulu whose chosen song is "Freedom" by Vanuatu's Vanessa Quai, as she explained from her island home.

Music is a family affair in La Petite Souffriere, a tiny and remote village high in the hills of Dominica. Isma Alie still works as a farmer cultivating Bay Tree plantations for their oil but also happens to be the island's greatest accordion player. With his son James and grandson Jackson, he keeps alive the traditional Jing-ping music of Dominica for community dances and celebrations.

Gambian athlete, Suwaibou Sanneh, carries his country's music with him as he prepares for the 100 metres sprint in the USA. Music from Jaliba Kuyateh and The Kumareh Band.

Extinct for over 200 years, the Maltese Lira can be heard along with a clutch or other rare instruments all played by Ruben Zahra.Plus recordings of Malta's traditional folk music, 'Ghana'.

Sia Figiel is a novelist, painter and poet who won the 1997 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Fiction (SE Asia/Pacific Region). Her choice of Heritage Track LOTA NU'U, sung here by the Samoa Teachers' Choir, evokes deep emotions not only in her, but in many Samoans across the world, and is almost an unofficial national anthem, dissolving boundaries and bringing them, and all Pacific peoples, together as children of the great ocean, Moana.

Bamboo grows all over the Solomon Islands and provides a perfect natural material for making musical instruments. The 13 piece Waurana Pan Pipe Ensemble makes full use of the bamboo which grows around them to create their joyful, life-affirming sound. Hear the musicians talk about the history of this form of music making and enjoy a special session which captures a raw, hi-energy performance recorded at the Solomon Islands Broadcasting studios in the capital city of Honiara.

Writer Jacob Ross was short-listed for the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize and in 2011 was awarded Grenada's highest award for his contribution to literature. His choice of Heritage Track- the 1960s calypso Dan is the Man in the Van by The Mighty Sparrow- reminds him of growing up in Grenada and the schooling he received in what was then a British colony, full of nonsensical nursery rhymes and images of seasons unknown in the Caribbean. He paints a picture of Grenadians as being both laid-back and determined in their attitude to life, and nurturing high hopes as their star sprinter, Kirani James, heads for Glasgow this summer.

In a music centre at the heart of Malawi's capital Lilongwe, 3 groups converge to demonstrate some of this country's rich music and culture. Waliko Makhala, respected musicologist and pioneer at Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, introduces the Kang'oma Cultural Troupe. Teacher Nkathama Chavamagwede and singer Avelyn White play township jive and songs of social comment. Nyandoro & The Black Souls fill a small teaching room with the sounds of unashamedly traditional songs, and we hear how this music defines Malawi's heritage.

Ghana has made quite an impact on the world music scene over the years, not least with Highlife music, perhaps the best known genre to emerge from this west African country - and the Anglo-Ghanaian band Orchestra Jazira delighted audiences here in the UK in the eighties. But for weightlifter Alberta Ampomah, who represented Ghana in the London Olympics and at the Delhi Commonwealth Games and is currently training as a police officer in Accra, the times have clearly moved on. Song: "Life" by R2Bees

The story of Cyprus's tumultuous past is told through its archaeological treasures, its dusty streets, its food and music. Michalis Tterlikkas was born and lived in the rural village of Kapouti in northern Cyprus until the 1974 Turkish invasion. As a child, he was steeped in the folklore and music of Cyprus and shares with us his lifelong passion for traditional song. Meanwhile, the next generation of musicians is picking up the traditional baton, and a new vigour is brought to the music of Cyprus by the trio 'Monsieur Doumani', who perform on a Nicosia rooftop, overlooking the old city and the green line that divides a nation.

Mueena Mohamed is the Number One table tennis player in Maldives. She chooses a song very familiar to her from her childhood, Minivan vayaa, and talks about the place of music in Maldivian culture, the challenge of balancing high-level training with a job, and what it means to her to compete in her fourth Commonwealth Games.

A rare performance of music by the Lomipeau Collection, recorded in a church hall in the village of Lapaha, Tonga. Singer Alusa Falefa has been entrusted by Noble Kalaniuvalu Fotofili, the living heir to the Tu'i Tonga dynasty, to preserve this music. He leads a 30 strong vocal ensemble along with his son Soane Ngutukoula Tatuila Pusiaki, a practitioner of Tonga's most famous instrument the noseflute. This deeply moving form of music-making has been preserved since the 1800s, and Alusa's grandfather used to perform for Queen Salote of Tonga.

Kiran Khan is one of Pakistan's first international female swimmers. She talks about the responsibilities and pressures of being a media celebrity and a role-model for other women, and the difficulties of pursuing her chosen sport in a Muslim country. Her uplifting Heritage Track, 'Jazba-e-Junoon, to himmat na haar' by Ali Azmat, reflects the support she's received from her family, particularly her father, who always dreamed that his daughter should fulfill her dreams and become an inspiration to others.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, triggered by the assassination of the Rwandan President in April 1994, and continued for 100 days with an estimated death toll of more than half a million. Since then Rwanda has seen a remarkable transformation, and the capital Kigali is now a prosperous and thriving capital. Music has played its part in that transformation, and we hear first from Sophie Nzayisenga, who sings and plays the traditional stringed instrument, the inanga. She lost brothers and sisters in the conflict, surviving by hiding in the bush with her father for the hundred days. She's now involved in Rwanda's Cultural Upgrading Initiative, which seeks to promote harmony through traditional music. There is also a session with Gakondo, a traditional group which plays regular concerts at the Hotel Milles Collines, well known around the world as the former UN hotel which became a refuge during the genocide.

Sprinter Maziah Mahusin was the only female athlete representing her country at the London Olympics 2012; carrying the Bruneian flag at the Opening Ceremony is one of her proudest moments. Since then she's inspired many young girls to run; these days they turn up in crowds at her training sessions to run alongside her. Maziah chooses a track that reminds her of playing with her siblings as a child, Sebarkan ke Seantero dunia by Putri Norizah. She reflects on how far she's come in her career- and on what it's going to take to live up to the responsibility she now feels to keep training hard and make Bruneians yet more proud of her.

St Lucia's leading traditional folk band Man May La Kay keep alive the traditional Kwadril music. Drawn originally from the French courtly Quadrille, this is a curious mix of African and European dance styles introduced by the European plantation owners of an earlier era. Once a reminder of their colonial past, the Kwadril has become a national symbol of the people of St Lucia and this joyful music is the definitive Caribbean ceilidh.

Hafsatu Kamara is an up-and-coming sprinter who represented Sierra Leone at the 2013 African Senior Championships, and aims to do well at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Raised in Sierra Leone and the United States, she is well aware of the extremes life can throw at you, having been forced to leave Sierra Leone because of the outbreak of Civil War in the early nineties. Her choice of music is by Emmerson from his “Yesterday Betteh Pass Tiday?” album, a recording which provoked a tense political debate in Sierra Leone. This reggae song "Na for Balance” advises Sierra Leoneans to avoid physical confrontation.

In Botswana, each tribe has their own identifiable style of music. The Balete Ditlhaka traditional group, based in Ramotswa village in the south of Botswana, is one of the last groups keeping Ditlhaka music alive. Deputy Chief Kgosi Tsimane Mokgosi tells the stories of the Ditlhaka music, and the group's director and pipe tuner Sialala Mookestsi shares how he learnt Ditlhaka in the South African mines as a boy. In Botswana's capital Gaborone, a very different sound comes from inside a garden; Myzer Mathako plays his Mbira, moved by its spirit.

Up and coming 200m and 400m sprinter Kasheem Colbourne expresses through his music choice his deep pride in the beauty of his country. 'Antigua' by Rupert Blaize conjures up paradise-like images of this twin island state's stunning natural landscape and the warmth of its people, and for these reasons is a popular song in the country. Glasgow 2014 will be Kasheem's first time competing at Commonwealth level and in his contribution to Commonwealth Connections he expresses his resolve to do well, represent Antigua and Barbuda, and put it on the map in the minds of the world-wide audience for the track and field events.

Mark Atkins is regarded as one of Australia's finest virtuoso didgeridoo players and is recognized internationally for his collaborations with some of the world's leading musicians, including Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Sinead O'Connor and minimalist classical composer Philip Glass. Atkins is of Irish/Australian heritage, as well as being a descendant of Western Australia's Yamitji people. We get a chance to hear him performing and weaving stories at a didgeridoo workshop- festival held in Woolloongabba, a suburb of Brisbane, alongside contributions from master didgeridoo player Stephen Kent and Aboriginal player Adrian Burragubba, who talks about the concepts of 'Dreamtime' and 'songlines'.