Mamadou Diabate,was born into a traditional musician family (Sambla people) in Burkina Faso (West Africa), with a long tradition of practising the profession of story telling and music making. At the age of 5 he started his professional training with his father Penegue Diabate, who in his days was considered the best balafon player far beyond the bordes of the sambla culture. At 8 he began with his apprenticeship years with renowned balafonists of neighboring peoples. In 1988 and 1998 he won the first prize of the "National Culture Week" of Burkina Faso. He currently lives in Austria. With his group Percussion Mania he won the Austrian World Music Award (2011) and the Grand Prix of the "Triangle du Balafon" Competition in Mali (2012). For his virtuosity, he was there also honored with the "Prix Alkaly Camara de la virtuosité".