Cultural exchange programme
The Kunzwana Trust has organised numerous festivals, tours and concerts in various parts of Zimbabwe:
May 1988: A festival of traditional music at the Murehwa Culture House, 90 km outside Harare where musicians from surrounding areas met for a day of musical celebration
September 1990 : An exhibition of Southern African Musical Instruments in conjunction with the Ethnomusicology Programme of the Zimbabwe College of Music and hosted by the French Cultural Services
October 1993: hosting of the Austrian Duo Attwenger and organising their Zimbabwe tour sharing the stage with Oliver Mutukudzi & The Black Spirits and with Black Umfolosi. This was the first collaboration with Austria-Zimbabwe Friendship Association
August/September 1994: The Houses of Stone Festival and Festival Trail which brought together musicians and Ethnomusicologists from many different parts of Africa and elsewhere in the world.
December 1995: hosting and organising of a music Safari of a group of artists and musicians from Linz (Georg Ritter, Peter Androsch, Rudi Pfann, Gotthard Wagner etal.), in due course first contact made with Tonga music in Siachilaba
February/March 1996: hosting of Wiener Tschuschenkapelle from Vienna on tour in Zimbabwe and Mocambique in collaboration with Ambuya Beauler Dyoko and Ghorwane
July 2002: hosting of Otto Lechner & Windhund from Vienna on tour to visit the Tonga area and attend Harare Jazz festival
Some of the more important overseas touring work in which KUNZWANA has been involved since 1988 includes :
May 1990: ZIMFEST, a tour in England, organised through World Circuit Arts, London, by the mbira group Mhuri yekwaRwizi and Black Umfolosi
October 1992: A tour by the young mbira group, Kunzwana Mbira, to Durban, Natal in South Africa.
October 1992: A visit by the mbira player, teacher and composer, Chaka Chawasarira, to the United States to give concerts and lectures on Zimbabwean music.
March to September 1993: Black Umfolosi world tour of Europe and the United States.
April 1994; Oliver Mutukudzi and the Black Spirits visit Austria and Attwenger under the auspices of the Austria-Zimbabwe Friendship Association.
November 1994: Mhuri yekwaRwizi: Soul of Mbira tour of Europe
May 1995: Zengea Children's Karimba Ensemble, led by Chaka Chawasarira, visited Amsterdam to participate in a festival of mbira music promoted by the Ijsbreker
February 1996: Beauler Dyoko and the Black Souls visit Mozambique on a cultural exchange programme with Ghorwane from Maputo and Wiener Tschuschenkapelle;
August 1996: Mhuri yekwaChigamba mbira ensemble visits Lucerne, Switzerland.
May 1996: Zengea Karimba Ensemble led by Chaka Chawasarira visits Sweden on a cultural exchange programme
August 1997: Thirty Valley Tonga musicians from the group Simonga in Siachilaba visiting Austria to attend the Festival der Regionen Kunst.Über.Leben