Minutes from the February 7th meeting of the Zimfest Association board of directors have been posted.
Minutes from the February 7th meeting of the Zimfest Association board of directors have been posted.
Minutes from the January 10th meeting of the Zimfest Association board of directors have been posted.
Minutes from the November 8th and December 13th meetings of the Zimfest Association board of directors have been posted.
Posted on behalf of Moyo and Kuda Mutamba:
What: I Am Because You Are is a storytelling event to support the free education of children in rural Zimbabwe at Ubuntu Free School (www.ubuntuearth.org)
When: 20th of December, 2 pm-3 pm EST (11am – 12 pm PST)
Where: ZOOM
Make a suggested donation of $15 here:
https://www.givingway.com/
And we will send you a secure Zoom link close to the event date.
Featured Storytellers:
We are excited to have Sage Tyrtle and Dan Yashinsky as our Tellers for our first event.
Sage Tyrtle is a professional storyteller who tells stories all over the world, most recently in India. Her stories have been featured on NPR and CBC radio and she is a multiple-time Moth StorySLAM winner, one-time Moth GrandSLAM winner, who has also appeared on the PBS tv show Stories From The Stage. She is a First Person Arts Story Slam winner and Audience Favourite. She teaches The Art of Storytelling in schools, to individuals, and in corporate settings.
You can learn more about her here:
https://tyrtle.com/
Dan Yashinsky is a storyteller and writer.
You can learn more about Dan here:
https://tellery.com/dan-
Moyo and Kuda will open and close the event with Mbira Music
For more information about Ubuntu Free School, visit our website: www.ubuntuearth.org
Tatenda/Siyabonga/Thank You
Dear Zimfest Association members and friends,
What a year it has been. While it is probably not going how any of us had hoped, we hope this letter finds you well all the same. The holidays are officially here and with them comes the Zimfest Association’s annual campaign and membership drive! As you know, we made the painful decision not to meet in person this year and, while we had a few excellent online offerings, nothing can compare to meeting up with old friends and teachers and playing beautiful music together. Another unfortunate consequence of forgoing the festival is that the ZImfest Association has taken in little money this year. We want to continue to grow the festival and provide the best experience we can, and here are some ways that you can help.
Become a Member:
To our current members we give our thanks! To the rest of our friends new and old, we hope that this is the year you decide to join our team. It’s so simple, you’ll be done in minutes, just visit our membership page to find the right fit for you. Memberships run through the calendar year and if you renew now, you will be all set for 2021. We have memberships to fit all sorts of needs including discounted student and teacher membership, senior membership, couples, families, and even lifetime membership! With all the different types of membership, there’s sure to be something to fit your budget! As a member, you will have your Zimfest registration fees waived for the year, your dues are tax deductible, and you can even choose to have your names published on the website and in the Festival Guide to show the world that you support Zimfest.
Provide Charitable Donations:
Maybe you’re already a member, but you want to know how you can help out even more? Consider a tax-deductible donation to the Zimfest Association! While membership dues are a significant contributor to our community, your donations have been essential for the festival in the past, and if you donate now, you will be contributing to our shared future. Your money goes straight to things like paying travel expenses for Zimbabwean teachers, paying teachers for performances and workshops, and also to our travel fellowship program which allows us to pay the way for one returning Zimbabwean teacher and one new teacher!
Other Ways to Contribute:
As you’re finishing up your holiday shopping, remember that when you shop on Amazon, you can support Zimfest by choosing the Zimfest Association as the organization you would like to receive 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases (more information here). Also, if you’re selling stuff on eBay, you can choose to donate a percentage of the final sales price to the Zimfest Association (more information here). Finally, if your company supports matching donations, find out from your supervisor or Human Resources department how your company can match your contributions, often dollar for dollar!
Whether you’re celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, or Festivus we hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and we can’t wait to see you at our next festival!!
Warmly,
The Zimfest Board
Minutes from the September 13th and October 11th meetings of the Zimfest Association board of directors have been posted.
Minutes from the August 19th meeting of the Zimfest Association board of directors have been posted.
Minutes from the May 17th, June 14th, and July 12th meetings of the Zimfest Association board of directors have been posted.
Joining with mbira students and enthusiasts around the world, Zimfest deeply mourns the loss of Sekuru Cosmas Magaya, who was laid to rest at Magaya village in Mhondoro, Zimbabwe, on the 13th of July 2020. He was one of the last of the revered senior generation of gwenyambiras, loved by all who knew him, and an important teacher to many of us in the Zimfest community. His mbira playing was both powerful and profoundly rooted in his spiritual traditions.
Sekuru Magaya played an integral role in the research of ethnomusicologist Paul Berliner’s award-winning book The Soul of Mbira (1978), through which he first became known worldwide. After that book’s publication, he taught and performed countless times internationally in Europe and the US. His long-anticipated book collaborations with Paul Berliner, The Art of Mbira: Musical Inheritance and Legacy (2020) and Mbira’s Restless Dance are being published this year by the University of Chicago Press, to enthusiastic acclaim.
Sekuru Magaya participated in 11 Zimbabwean Music Festivals beginning in 1998, as a teacher, performer, and respected elder who led opening ceremonies and served as a shining example for Zimbabweans new to U.S. touring. He was a true and open-hearted cultural ambassador.
To support Sekuru Magaya’s family during this time, Kutsinhira Cultural Arts Center in Eugene, Oregon, has established a memorial fund in his name. To learn more and donate to this fund, please follow this link.
Zororai murugare – Rest in Peace
Dear Zimfest community,
We are pleased to post the following on behalf of Anesu Ndoro:
Minutes from the March 8th, March 21st, and April 12th meetings of the Zimfest Association board of directors have been posted. The March 21st meeting was held jointly with the 2020 festival Organizing Committee.
Minutes from the January 12th and February 9th meetings of the Zimfest Association board of directors have been posted.