On April 28th, the Maru-a-Pula Marimba band visited Groton for a musical intervention. “We’re here to help you,” said MaP principal Andy Taylor on the CPAC stage, after joking that studies show that AP scores are improved after listening to marimba. “You’re going to feel like a bubble in a carbonated beverage. You’re going to rise through the evening.”

The hour-long concert provided a much-needed break during a hectic time of year, as students and faculty alike perked up with the vibrant music. Players smiled, danced, laughed, cheered, and clapped the whole hour, all while performing complex marimba songs that required them to move around from instrument to instrument.

Although the night marked the marimba band’s seventh performance on their twelve-stop tour of the East Coast, the players’ persistent high energy encouraged the audience to let loose and have fun. “There’s been an amazing response from audiences of all ages, of all levels of society, and from all around,” said Mr. Taylor.

Yame, who plays in the MaP band, listed the differences between the schools they’ve visited as part of the reason they’re still so enthusiastic. That and, of course, the group’s love of the instrument.

The band, led by MaP marimba teacher Laone Thekiso, has been in the US since April 15th, playing at schools, colleges, and churches. They tour the US every other year, and in 2018 the group will play in Seattle, as Mr. Taylor eagerly pointed out. In preparation for the current tour, the band practiced three hours a day for four days a week, as such a high level of performance requires total awareness, said Mr. Taylor.

Most of the students began to practice the marimba in primary school, but all students at MaP are required to study the instrument. One MaP student named Nicole said she first started five years ago. However, despite the players’ impressive abilities, not all of them have been practicing for so long, such as Jenny, who only began last year.

The MaP band has also performed worldwide in Canada, Portugal, and Brazil. Mr. Taylor has attended the past four tours. The students’ concerts have also appeared on on the NBC Today Show and the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, according to the MaP website. Some of their most famous audiences have included the former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush.

All proceeds from the marimba band’s performances go to aid the Maru-a-Pula Orphan Scholarship Fund, which helps twenty orphans pay for tuition and other expenses associated with attending MaP. MaP Orphan Scholars have gone on after high school to attend top universities such as Princeton, Columbia, and Stanford, according to the MaP website.

MaP and Groton have had ties for years, sending various faculty and even some students. In recent years, Ms. Leggat, Mr. Choate, the Fry family, and Hadley Stack ’14 have all visited the campus. The school also was the Maqubela’s first home as a married couple. The marimba’s performance is one way of continuing the close relationship between the two schools.