African Chamber Music: Zimbabwean and Ghanaian Traditions Reimagined With Strings
Time Will Tell Arts Society and Caravan World Rhythms co-present exciting new project at the Annex
Post Sponsored by time will tell arts society
Curtis Andrews. Photo by Ruby Singh.
A new project that aims to recontextualize African traditional and Western chamber instruments is coming to Vancouver. African Chamber Music: Zimbabwean and Ghanaian Traditions Reimagined With Strings, co-presented by Time Will Tell Arts Society and Caravan World Rhythms takes place at the Annex on Sunday, October 16 at 4 pm.
African music is well-known for its exciting drumming, dances and energy; its quieter and more contemplative characteristics are not as well known. This project aims to change that by presenting said repertoire in a “chamber” setting, utilizing a string quartet as accompanying instruments, and highlighting the voice to expand the notion of African music and how it can be perceived. At the same time, there is an urge to decolonize the string quartet and Western classical music. What its history and performance context has historically represented in relation to non-Western musical traditions is intertwined with the colonial enterprise and mindset. This needs to be addressed and acknowledged.
Kofi Gbolonyo.
The repertoire features the mbira songs of the Shona of Zimbabwe and the enchanting vocal music of the Ewe of Ghana, performed by Vancouver based masters of those traditions, Kurai Mubaiwa (mbira, voice, percussion/Zimbabwe) and Kofi Gbolonyo (voice, percussion/Ghana). This music is arranged for percussion, voice ,and string quartet by Curtis Andrews (percussion, voice), a long-time friend of Mubaiwa and Gbolonyo’s who is a fixture in Vancouver’s intercultural music circles. The concert also features Meredith Bates (violin), Peggy Lee (cello), Joshua Zubot (violin) and Sarah Kwok (viola).
Mbira is the Shona name for one of the most fascinating musical instruments developed indigenously on the African continent, a type of instrument known as a lamellophone (and often erroneously labelled a “thumb piano”).
The music of Ghana presented in this concert is derived from the Ewe ethnic group, a culture well-known for their complex polyrhythmic drumming and dance traditions. However, in this project, the artists aim to present the unique melodic, harmonic and lyrical aspects of the vast repertoire of Ewe vocal music, which contains profound indigenous history, philosophy, and insights into its culture.
For tickets , seehttps://www.eventbrite.ca/e/415482508367.
More details are at Time Will Tell Arts Society or Caravan World Rhythms.
Post sponsored by Time Will Tell Arts Society.