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Mafaro eZimbabwe Part 2, Branches: The KTO Project explores Chimurenga music and beyond!

Doors at 8:30 pm; Show at 9:00 pm

Tickets are $20 Advance /
$25 at the Door

Tickets for both shows (April 19th & 21st) also available.
$30 Advance / $40 Day of Show

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The KTO Project is collaborating with Bay Area musicians and dancers from Zimbabwe to celebrate the music of the people - Chimurenga music - and to explore its roots in traditional mbira music played by the ancestral Shona people in Zimbabwe. 

The KTO Project will bring more than 15 musicians and dancers and a community choir of up to 25 people together to perform one concert of ancestral songs of Zimbabwe, then one concert of the popular, socially impactful music developed from the ancestral forms generations later. 

The second of 2 concerts will feature Zimbabwean mbira music played with modern amplified instrumentation and drum kit, with lyrics characterized by social and political commentary. The performance will feature arrangements and song by Kelly Takunda Orphan and Zivanai Masango, The KTO Project’s Zimbabwe-born guitar player who has made his mark touring with Zimbabwean master musicians Oliver Mtukudzi and Thomas Mapfumo. 

Both concerts (the first on April 19th) will feature Voices of Zimbabwe, the community chorus led by Kelly Takunda Orphan, developed in residence at Ashkenaz (that will run from February to April 2018). Members of the Zimbabwean, Southern African and World Music choral communities have a chance to participate in this choral project that will be featured at the Mafaro eZimbabwe: Zimbabwean Mbira Music for the People concerts.