Music Crossroads hosts Fusion Fest

Arts Reporter
Music Crossroads Academy will present the inaugural Fusion Africa Festival on Friday and Saturday.

The festival takes place at Nzou Arts and Cultural Centre in Harare, home of the Music Crossroads Academy in Zimbabwe.

The festival is a gathering of some of the best musicians from Southern and East Africa as well as Europe.

“The festival will feature Orquésta Chungu, who have just finished a tour of Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia. The group is named after the Chungu, the traditional East-african clay cooking pot which is popular because it retains it’s heat. Orquésta Chungu cooks up a spicy menu with tasty grooves from Mozambique to Ethiopia featuring music by some of the great composers in East Africa,” said Music Crossroads Zimbabwe director Melody Zambuko.

“With an international line-up consisting of Will Ramsay on saxophone from South Africa, Girum Mezmur and Abiy Woldemariam on guitar and keyboards from Ethiopia and Martin Lillich and Dietrich Woehrlin from Germany on bass and drums, the group will also invite local greats, Dudu Manhenga, Prudence Katomeni and Blessing Muparutsa to join them for some sizzling performances.”

Orquésta Chungu will share the bill with some of the finest young musicians in Southern Africa including the Smooth Groovers from Malawi, Mozjazz from Mozambique as well as Lwazi Tshabangu, Edith WeUtonga, Brian Nanhanga, Lelo´Langa, Tibukandinga, and Kiati Africa.

The Festival is taking place within the framework of the Global Music Campus teacher training programme run by the Global Music Academy in Berlin.

In a partnership with Music Crossroads, the Campus trains the teachers from the three Music Crossroads Academies from Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe and takes place every year.

The academy offers a one year professional training programme for aspiring young musicians based entirely on African music.

“Using an innovative new curriculum designed by the GMA in Berlin, the Academy offers young musicians the opportunity to hone their professional skills using modern teaching methods. This initiative proudly counts with the support among others, from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs”