Nile Ethiopian Ensemble: Profile of an African Immigrant Music & Dance Group

More than 40,000 Washington-area residents claim the Ethiopian region as their birthplace. They are members of several culturally, religiously, linguistically, and ethnically diverse communities. The largest is Amharic, but the area also includes Tigrean, Oromo, Eritrean, and Gurage. Tesfaye Lemma, a longtime advisor and community scholar of the African Immigrant Folklife Project, is the founder of the Center for Ethiopian Arts and Culture and of the Nile Ethiopian Ensemble.