By Kundai Marunya
As part of the ongoing annual Musica Festival which kicked off on Saturday, Pamberi Trust Gardens will host rising young artists Bryan Kadengu and Adrian Muparutsa tomorrow afternoon.
Hot on the heels from an amazing showcase at the Lake of Stars Festival stage in Malawi, where he shone; featuring the freshest tunes from his new CD ‘Nyaya DzeRudo’, Kadengu and his band is ready to waltz the local audience. The show will be opened by Muparutsa.
“Seriously talented musicians mixed with hard work and determination, both artists appear to be headed further in the world, and the Musica Festival programme is an appropriate platform to launch from,” said Pamberi Trust arts administrator Penny Yoni.
Kadengu is a talented young singer-songwriter and guitarist who was born and raised in Chinhoyi. He discovered his singing talent at the age of 11. He is a self-taught guitarist who started playing in 2007 at the age of 15, and has over the years developed a unique music touch and style, influenced by Zimbabwean artists such as Andy Brown, Devera Ngwena, Isaac Chirwa, Leonard Dembo, Mateo and Fortune Muparutsa, and other African artists such as Jonathan Butler.
In 2012 he came to the attention of Zimbabwean music-lovers when he emerged as the winner of the first season of the StarBrite talent search, and in the same year he won the Metbank Achiever of the year award, and the Environmental Management Authority’s Best Entertainer 2012 award. Since then he has also been named UNFPA Safeguard Young People Ambassador 2014/2015.
Bryan has performed widely in Chinhoyi and Harare, both as lead and session musician, including the Harare International Festival of the Arts 2013, and since 2014 has reached further afield, performing in South Africa at the UNFPA Safeguarding Young People Campaign; at Bushfire Festival 2014 in Swaziland, and the UNFPA Young Peoples conference in Zambia.
Meanwhile, Muparutsa is a gifted young guitarist and new-generation jazz-ist of Zimbabwe, who studied Jazz Performance and graduated from University of Cape Town a few years ago, and has been performing in and around Harare since then.
The full Musica programme is an exciting affair with top Italian, German, Mozambican, and other artists flying in to perform alongside and collaborating with some of Zimbabwe’s brightest stars at venues around the city including Pamberi Garden, Music Crossroads, Zimbabwe German Society, Maestros, Pabloz, Megga2, Harare International School and Heritage School.
The festival is presented by the Embassy of Italy in Harare, in cooperation with a committee of stakeholders comprising artists and arts practitioners of Zimbabwe, and in partnership with the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe.
Italian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Enrico De Agostini said, “Musica aims to showcase the very best of local, regional and international music and creates a platform for emerging artists to collaborate with local and international stars.”
This year’s event is bigger than previous editions with the participation of a great many international musicians and more than 100 local artists.
Local artists include Tsvete, Oliver Mtukudzi, Edith Weutonga, Cynthia Mare, Filbert Marova, Josh Meck, The Outfit, Fungai Nengare, Africa Revenge, Evicted, Hope Masike, Dudu Manhenga and Patience Musa. International artists performing include Blume Jazz Band, Simone Crinelli Quartet, Marco Maggiore, Pietro Tonolo and Antonio Jasevoli Band.
“The festival is also focused on developing the local music industry through workshops where international and local artists share their musical knowledge and skills with young emerging artists and music students,” said Agostini. The workshops this year will be held at Pamberi Trust, Zimbabwe College of Music and Music Crossroads.
In order to take music and cultural exchange to a broader audience, Musica this year entered into a partnership with Delta Beverages to mark the 120th anniversary of Castle Lager, through a show at Old Georgian’s Sports Club on Saturday, 10 October. “The show will be headlined by Jamaican dancehall musician Konshens, South African pop band Beatenberg, Italian drummer Marco Maggiore and Mozambican Saxophonist Ivan Mazuze,” he said.
For further information visit: www.facebook.com/musicafestivalzimbabwe.
