A visit to the Embassy
I paid a visit to the Norwegian embassy today with a letter to hand to the ambassador. I spoke to his secretary and then the head of the VISA section. They called up the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration who insisted that they are working on the case and- here this- I can expect to wait for anything up to 10 months! Read more
Why it was a Sacred Concert to remember
Scores of people of various ages and hues braved Harare’s sweltering heat on Saturday, 8 November 2008, to join the celebrations to mark 200 years of the abolishment of slavery with a performance of Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts by the 50 strong Zimbabwe College of Music (ZCM) Choir and the Trio Arctic Band. The versatile and awe-inspiring Zimbabwean diva, Prudence Katomeni- Mbofana held the solo soprano reins.
The performance was a unique collaboration between the ZCM and their Norwegian counterparts courtesy of The Culture School of Fredrikstad as well as FK Norway. Each year three lecturers from ZCM go to Norway to guest lecture in an exchange programme that sees three Norwegian lecturers making the trek to Zimbabwe. This year’s trio, Tone Jordhus Søvik (saxaphone), Brith Løkken (trumpet) and Klæboe Eyvind Helseth were at the forefront of organising the concert. Linda Gjersoe Helseth (trombone) flew all the way from Norway to be part of this groundbreaking performance. Read more
Ellington’s Sacred Concert at the Mannenberg
2008 MARKS 200 YEARS since American president Thomas Jefferson signed the bill abolishing the slave trade in 1808.
In 1965 jazz master Duke Ellington, himself descended from slaves and recognized as one of the most influential figures in jazz, was moved to write three massive works that combined elements of jazz, classical music, choral music, spirituals, gospel, blues and dance. He called them his “Sacred Concerts,” and they were performed in churches and cathedrals around the world. He said it was the most important thing he’d ever done.
Because of the scale of the music and the sheer number of artists needed to execute each work, Ellington’s sacred concerts have rarely been performed in the 30 years since his death in 1974. Read more
I want to go home!
I was minding my own business at work when I suddenly heard a familiar greeting: “Unjani?” Looking back I expected to meet the typical wekumusha or at least someone of colour. Nope, some white dude. If I had been in the UK, or the US for that matter, I wouldn’t have been startled.
But in Norway of all places at an oil refinery in the furthest part of the country. I managed to quickly get myself together again, and asked if he was South African and had assumed I was probably from there being the only person of colour in our company. Once again nope. I come from Redcliff, went to Thornhill High School, he goes on. Read more
