Donné Roberts

Donné Roberts is a passionate performer. When he hits the stage, he carries with him an energy that immediately exhilarates the crowd - even if they never heard his music before. Born in Madagascar and raised and educated in Moscow, Russia, Roberts lives in Toronto. He introduces his music to new fans that might be unfamiliar with the kinds of rhythms his music conveys and his fusion of seemingly dissimilar sounds. Performing traditional Malagasy music with modern arrangement, his finger-picking and rhythmic guitar playing creates a sound like no one else. Singing mainly in Malagasy, his mother tongue, he also sings in French, Russian and English, but this never proves to be a barrier to the audience, living proof that music truly does transcend language In Moscow, he was the first black VJ on MTV Russia, and came to wider recognition in Canada with his albums Rhythm Was Born and Internation, and for his contribution as one of the members of the African Guitar Summit project, which won a JUNO in 2005 and was nominated for another one in 2007.