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| Entertainment |
| Music Croassroads comes to Malawi |
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by
Peter Makossah, 06 February 2004
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13:58:25
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Although Malawi’s representatives to this year’s Music Croassroads regional contest in Tanzania — Blantyre Magic Fingers and The Cool Giants of Mzuzu — failed to impress, the country has been selected to host the African inter-region concert competition in January next year.
The decision was made by the organisers of the Music Crossroads, Jeunesses Musicales International (JMI), a world wide network for music and youth in Brussels, Belgium at this year’s inter-regional music crossroads concert festivals held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania between January 22-25 this year in which the hosts emerged as overall best performers.
JMI communications officer Sophie Putcuyps confirmed the development this week in an e-mail interview, saying JMI wants Malawi to host the 2005 version of the competition because of its commitment in the concerts, from 2000, when the country first participated.
“When we thought of where we would host the 2005 inter-regional music crossroads concert festivals after the Tanzania shows which have run for two consecutive years, Malawi came out first in our mind because the country has shown a high sense of commitment and dedication to the improvement of talent in young musicians, and we hope it will work out that way,” said Putcuyps.
A government senior arts and crafts officer Ghayighayi Mfune, who accompanied the two Malawian bands that competed in Tanzania, confirmed Wednesday that it was said during the concert festivals in Tanzania that Malawi has been chosen to host next year’s inter-regional music crossroads.
Mfune said it is a great honour for Malawi to host the music crossroads inter-regional concerts because it will help the country boost its music industry, especially among young musicians.
Mfune said that if all works well Malawi would start preparing for the festivals in April this year to give enough room for thorough preparations for those bands and artists that will participate in the Music inter-regional festivals.
“It is a great honour and pride for Malawi to host such important concerts and we don’t want to waste this great opportunity. We will use the chance to the fullest. We will start preparing for festivals locally by organising music festivals this coming April with a series of concerts to be held in all the major cities and towns in the country,” said Mfune.
Mfune said with the development, the Department of Arts and Crafts will be forced to add another region on top of South, Centre and North to allow young musicians from Balaka, Machinga, Mangochi and Zomba to participate in the local festivals in preparation for the inter-regional music crossroads concert festivals.
Said Mfune: “We have added another region to the three existing regions of south, centre and north. The Eastern Region will have its base in Balaka. The local preparatory music crossroads concert festivals will take place in Lilongwe, Blantyre, Mzuzu and Balaka.”
He said plans are underway to record a music CD for the bands that qualified for the final stages of the inter-regional music crossroads which will include Malawi’s music ambassadors to the European music crossroads Tikhu Vibrations, 2003 inter-regional finalists Patience Band and 2004 finalists Magic Fingers and The Cool Giants.
Apart from the CD, Mfune said his department will also organise special music workshops for the bands that have gone through the music crossroads.
“We will have special courses for those that have experienced the music crossroads. The course modules will include song writing, music production, marketing, copyright and many other disciplines related to music,” he said.
But director of culture in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture responsible for arts and crafts Bernard Kwilimbe said as a ministry they have not been officially communicated to on the matter.
“I have heard that Malawi has been earmarked to host next year’s inter-regional music crossroads but we have not yet received an official communication. We can only think of the way forward after getting official communication from the organisers of the concerts because hosting an international festival demands a lot and requires the support of other government ministries such as Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs,” said Kwilimbe.
The Music Crossroads is supported by Sida, Norad and Unesco and combines workshops, festivals and competitions to promote traditional and contemporary African music played by young musicians.
Since its inception in 1996, the music crossroads festivals have been held in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania bringing together over 15,000 musicians and reaching a total audience of more than 100,000. The programme was initiated in Zambia.
The concerts encourage initiative and creativity, respect, knowledge and understanding. They also aim at bringing people together irrespective of nationality, gender, religion, generation or community and through the promotion of participation of young women in music.
The concerts also tackle on HIV/Aids related issues by providing a combination of music, self-awareness and HIV/Aids education and empowering African musicians between the ages of 15 and 27. For its long term objectives, the concerts strive to build a self sustainable cross border youth music structure in Africa. |
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