adminwith in the music world. Local talent fused so well with the visiting bands and gave an outstanding performance.
Children who attended the concert at the Celebration Centre were over the moon to finally see Oliver Mtukudzi, greet and even get autographs. Just like we do when we go to his shows the children could not resist to stand up, dance and sing along to “Todini, senzeni ,what shall we do . . .”
Long after the musical affair I can still see and feel the vibrations of the soprano marimba played by Blessing Chimanga as he collaborated with Amanda e la Banda on the song “Stand by me”, an old time classic. This wiz kid is destined for great things in the entertainment world. Sadly though the turnout by schools to the free concert was so disturbing as only a few attended.
Come on guys this is part of exposing and developing motivated, intelligent and self inspired performers. Too much theory in the class room without practical application and exposure is no good. Music is best enjoyed when expressed rather than when discussed.
This week let’s look and celebrate one of Zimbabwe’s finest pianist, composer and music producer Tich Makalisa.
Wine gets sweeter by age goes the saying. From the age of seven Tich Makalisa was afforded an opportunity to discover and develop his musical skills by his parents and today it is evident that this was a worthwhile investment.
He began classical piano lessons back then at a tender age and later studied jazz composition and arrangement at the University of Capetown where he graduated with an honours degree. The college of Music at UCT boasts award winning and internationally acclaimed alumni such as Dominic Peters and Dave Poole of Goldfish, Jimmy Dludlu, Judith Sephuma, Musa Manzini, Moreira Chonguica and Marcus Wyatt.
Tich is an enormously talented performer and composer with a diverse compositional style. He has composed original songs for various artistes. Between 2006 & 2008 he worked as a composer for Barry Kirsch
Productions in Dubai, the leading Audio Production Company in the Middle East.
His compositional credits include international adverts for brands such as: Dubai Properties, Mamuth, Royco, Bokomo and Isuzu.
His amazing musical gifting has seen him rub shoulders on stage and in the recording studios with the likes of Judith Sephuma, Selaelo Selota, Jimmy Dludlu, Andrew Young, Abram Wilson (UK), and Andre Segone (France).
As always remember that your talent will take you to places you’ve never dreamt of. He has performed at international festivals including the North Sea Jazz festival in The Netherlands and London Jazz festival. The opening of Hifa always brings together some of the best talents so to say. Tich Makalisa was this year the musical director for the Hifa opening show and also during the fest he performed with the highly acclaimed saxophonist Ivan Mazuze.
In recent times he has been developing his long form compositional skills, working on music for documentaries and film. He is also working on developing his skills as a music producer which ultimately means
getting the best out of musicians in the studio.
With such skill, experience, education and exposure it remains to become a turning point for music development production and promotion in Zimbabwe.
Tich has recently finished building a recording studio in Harare under his company Footprints Music. As we speak Footprints Music is in an advanced plan to collaborate with companies such as Maganda Music (Ivan Mazuze) and Live at the Shack Entertainment (Selaelo Selota) to identify and develop local talent. In 2012 they plan to have monthly workshops countrywide, with guest speakers and performers dealing in a wide range of musical subjects.
Online Reporter
Sidumisile Mabena