adminSpeaking at a one-day workshop held on the sidelines of the just ended six-day Harare International Festival of the Arts, Chipaz said he appreciated the support of private companies that ploughed back into the community through supporting the arts and saluted Goldtech Electronics and Savanna Tobacco for being supportive of the arts.
“Sponsorship as opposed to donations plays a key role in uplifting the artistes and the quality of work. Artistes are a vehicle which companies and other businesses could use to advertise their products and reach out to a wider audience. I want to pay tribute to Goldtech Electronics and Savanna Tobacco,” he said.
Chipaz, who is the National Arts Merit Award winner for Best Promoter of the Year, said music promotion had its highs and lows but the important thing was to expose as much talent as possible to ensure there is quality and professionalism within the arts sector.
“It is always good to deal with people who understand the sector. Secondly, as promoters we should not only work with the tried and tested artistes but also expose untapped talent so that we don’t saturate the market with the same product.
I have worked with several artistes some of them are serious about their business others are difficult to handle but I have managed to at least work with everyone,” he said.
Chipaz has worked with young artistes among them Suluman Chimbetu, Jah Prayzah, Freddie “Manjalima” Kapfupi, Romeo Gasa and First Farai.
Besides being credited with exposing the talents of Kapfupi, Jah Prayzah and Sulu, Chipaz has been behind several successful shows with help from two companies Savanna Tobacco and Goldtech Electronics, which deals in electronic gadgets such as computers, television sets as well as original cellphones.
Addressing musicians, promoters, artistes managers and funders, Chipaz said credit should go to Goldtech Electronics and Savanna Tobacco who worked towards uplifting musicians’ lives.
“There are times that we have done well in organising shows but all that effort was made possible because we had the support of Goldtech Electronics and Savanna Tobacco, the two companies that continuously sponsored the shows. As music promoters we encourage other companies to come on board,” he said.
Some of the shows that were sponsored by Goldtech Electronics and Savanna Tobacco in conjunction with Chipaz Promotions include “Big 4 Concert”, the “Annual Shutdown”, “Tuku@60 Birthday Bash”, “Chipaz Bhora as well as the upcoming two gigs — Mutare Festival and the “Sing Along” gig scheduled for the Andy Millar Hall featuring Oliver Mtukudzi, Suluman Chimbetu, Jah Prayzah and Alick Macheso.
Chipaz however, commended the companies that worked with Hifa in ensuring that each year the festival grew bigger and better.
He said he was pleased to note that this year’s festival which ran under the theme “What’s Next?” had more local performing artistes than the previous editions.
Online Reporter