Every year, the Sauti za Busara Festival in Zanzibar brings together thousands of African music lovers. This year again, from February 12-15, many artists from Africa and their fans gathered under the theme “Together as one”. There were a lot of amazing concerts as well as numerous opportunities to make new contacts and to discuss important topics of the music scene.
The pan-African music and information portal “Music In Africa” was also represented in two successful events:
On Friday, February 13, at “Movers & Shakers”, a networking session for music professionals, the new online portal and its benefits to artists and interested people were presented by Eddie Hatitye, Director of the Music In Africa Foundation and Jens Cording, Project Manager at Siemens Stiftung together with Eleonore Sylla, Director of the Goethe-Institut in Tanzania. The session was attended by all kinds of music professionals including musicians, cultural managers, journalists, and funding organizations. Participants discussed current challenges in the African music sector with a view to identify ways to strengthen the African music sector. Two days before the festival, “Music In Africa” organized a workshop for instrument building and repair at the Dhow Countries Music Academy (DCMA), located close to the Sauti za Busara venue. A total of 20 participants drawn from the Dhow Countries Music Academy, MuDA Africa, and Action Music Tanzania were trained in instrument building and repair as well as the commercialization of African instruments. The focus was on the instruments guitar and qanun, a stringed instrument of the zither family that is native to Egypt and Turkey. Trainers for this workshop included Acley Mwalusamba, Said Bhai, Gyavira Kamara, and Isack Wazir. The workshop was in line with “Music In Africa”’s vision to promote the music sector in Africa through the exchange of information, knowledge, and experience.
Find out more about the construction of qanuns and the workshop in an interview with the 24-year-old qanun-builder Said Bhai: http://www.musicinafrica.net/young-zanzibari-crafts-quality-qanuns