Zimfest 2004 Welcome

Welcome to the web site for the 13th annual Zimbabwean Music Festival. The 2004 Festival Organizing Committee is pleased to invite you to Zimfest in Portland for the second year in a row. This event brings together an international community of teachers, students, performers, and lovers of Zimbabwean music and dance for three days packed full of workshops, performances, presentations, community conversations, general visiting and musical jams. Please join us and share the joys of Zimbabwean music and culture. We look forward to seeing you there!

Zimbabwean Guests

We are excited to welcome many wonderful Zimbabwean guest teachers to this year’s festival: Ambuya Beauler Dyoko, David Gweshe, Cosmas Magaya, Fradreck Mujuru, and Fungai Mujuru, all of whom are traveling from Zimbabwe; Lucky Moyo who is coming from Britain; and Lora Lue Chiorah-Dye, Tendekai Kuture, Zivanai Masango, and Loveness Wesa who reside in North America. Changes may occur, so check the Changes & Corrections on this website or subscribe to our email list for updates.

“Beyond-Festival” Opportunities
with Zimbabwean Guests

Most of the Zimbabwean artists will be in the United States for an extended stay. They may be available for both teaching and performances in your local communities. Contact Zimfest at 2004@zimfest.org if you are interested and we will connect you with them.

Intensives

Zimfest will again offer intensive workshops this year. These are workshops of two-hour sessions per day that will continue over a period of two or three days. Most workshops will still be the one-time one-to-three hour sessions they have been. However, intensives are an opportunity for students to spend more time on a piece(s), with an instrument and with the teacher.

About the Site

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Photo

The campus at Reed College provides the perfect festival site for our music community. Reed, a liberal arts college founded in 1908, is situated on a lovely campus with rolling lawns, magnificent old trees, winding lanes, a canyon, a natural pond and a creek running through it. The campus provides excellent facilities — all within close walking distance — for workshops, concerts, marketplace, meals, housing, and of course, for just general hanging out. The concert site is one of the best sites the festival has ever had. Downtown Portland is a 20-minute bus or bike ride from Reed. For more information, check out their website, www.reed.edu.

Pre-fest: Thursday, August 12

Pre-fest is the chance, before the action-packed festival, to settle in, to visit with friends as they arrive, or to connect with a teacher for a lesson in mbira or other musical arts on Thursday.

The following teachers have indicated that they are available: Erica Azim, Michael Breez, Naby Camara, Lora Lue Chiorah-Dye, Fiona “Ona” Connon, Ambuya Beauler Dyoko, David Gweshe, Jennifer Kyker, Joel Lindstrom, Cosmas Magaya, Randy McIntosh, Lucky Moyo, Fradreck Mujuru, Fungai Mujuru, Peter Swing, and Wanda Walker. If a marimba ensemble wants to have a special session with a particular teacher on that day, please let us know so that we can arrange for a facility. Otherwise, Zimfest will not be involved with scheduling or dealing with payment. UPDATED May 21 & June 29

A reception for teachers, performers and sponsors on Thursday evening closes Pre-fest activities.

About Zimbabwean Music

The Festival offers a unique opportunity to explore complex and dynamic musical traditions. The mbira, an instrument common to many African cultures, consists of metal keys mounted on a wooden soundboard. In Zimbabwe, mbira music is part of a tradition that has remained strong for over a thousand years among the Shona people of Zimbabwe. Mbira pervades all aspects of Shona culture, both sacred and secular. Its most important function is to communicate with both deceased ancestors and tribal guardians, at all-night bira ceremonies. At these ceremonies, vadzimu (spirits of family ancestors), mhondoro (spirits of deceased chiefs) and makombwe (the most powerful guardian spirits of the Shona) give guidance on family and community matters and exert power over weather and health. While this role is still integral to Shona culture, the mbira is also increasingly used in the pop music of Zimbabwe.

The marimba’s use in Zimbabwe dates back to the 1960’s, when the instruments were adapted from various southern African traditions to form a uniquely Zimbabwean instrument at the Kwanongoma College of Music, a teacher training college in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia). Marimba came to the West in the late 1960’s in the hands of Dr. Dumisani Maraire, who taught Kwanongoma-style marimba music and his own compositions to students at the University of Washington, Evergreen College, and later others throughout the Pacific Northwest. Zimbabwean music has grown in popularity ever since, aided by international tours by both Zimbabwean traditional and pop musicians. Today, communities of people playing Zimbabwean-style mbira and marimba exist across North America and the world.

Since the first Zimfest, which took place in Seattle in 1991, each year the festival has attempted to reflect a cross-section of Zimbabwean cultures. The festival also includes offerings from Ndebele and other cultures in addition to those of the Shona people.
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