Zimbabwean Guests
From Kutsinhira
Musekiwa Chingodza was born into a family of great mbira players in Mwangara village, Murewa, Zimbabwe, in 1970. He began playing mbira at the age of five and is self-taught. Through listening to other gwenyambira, or great mbira players, he developed a strong attachment to and love for mbira music. He says, “Our music is both medicine and food, as mbira has the power to heal and to provide for people. Mbira pleases both the living and the dead.” In 1991 Musekiwa was a key member of the band Panjea, founded by Chris Berry. He composed the hit song “Ganda” on Panjea’s Zimbabwean album. Currently Musekiwa teaches mbira at Prince Edward School in Harare. He is an excellent singer, dancer and drummer and plays both mbira dzavadzimu and nyunga nyunga. Following up on his widely acclaimed CD with Jennifer Kyker, entitled “Tsunga,” Musekiwa released his CD “VaChingodza Budai Pachena.” His newest CD, “Kutema Musasa,” was released in late 2005.
Musekiwa is also an accomplished ngoma (drum) player in the Shona tradition, and he excels in playing hosho (gourd shakers), singing, and traditional dance. He is very experienced at teaching all of these skills to North Americans in a friendly and supportive way.
Musekiwa has recently started a project, Serevende Music and Cultural Arts Center, aimed at helping orphans and other impoverished people in his home village of Mwangara, Murewa, Zimbabwe to attend school, attain life and literacy skills, and sell their crafts. Another goal of Serevende is to create a cultural center where visitors can come and learn in depth about mbira, singing, dance, and other aspects of Zimbabwean music.
Cosmas Magaya
Born in Zimbabwe in 1953, Cosmas grew up in the rural area of Mhondoro. His father, Joshua Magaya, was a highly esteemed n'anga (healer), and a farmer who was noted for his enlightened farming practices.
Cosmas first became interested in mbira at the age of eight and begged his older mbira-playing cousin, Ernest Chivanga, to teach him how to play. However, because of his youth, he wasn't taken seriously and wasn't allowed to touch the cousin's mbira. At every opportunity, Cosmas would "borrow" the mbira and, out of hearing, try to pick out what he could remember from his cousin's playing. On one momentous occasion, after he had been practicing secretly for many months, Cosmas played mbira for his family. They were astonished that he had taught himself to play and his cousin began to teach him more songs. The two were hired to play frequently for Shona religious ceremonies called bira, and Cosmas developed a reputation as a strong mbira player whose playing could call the ancestral spirits.
He was quite small for his age and played the mbira inside a huge deze (calabash). The image of this young boy, all but hidden by the calabash, with just his small legs sticking out, was one that greatly amused his audiences.
Throughout his youth, Cosmas sought out opportunities to expand his mbira song and stylistic repertoire from both elder teachers and his age group peers. In addition to his mbira studies, he completed his formal schooling and went on to study business at the Community College Business School in Salisbury. Cosmas spent many years working for the sales and promotion division of the Dairy Marketing Board as a sales representative and manager.
As his music career developed, he joined Hakurotwi Mude's ensemble Mhuri yekwaRwizi and made two European tours in 1983 and 1985. He still performs with his family group, Mhuri yekwaMagaya, which now includes his son Mudavanhu. Cosmas has gained loyal following of many mbira students throughout the United States and Canada, and he continues to teach and perform in the U.S., Canada and Zimbabwe, spending part of every year in each area of the world.
