The Sunday Mail
Nicole Chiimba
SONGBIRD Ruvimbo Hope Masike, who is simply known as Hope Masike, continues to play an active role in the evolution of mbira music.
Masike recently did a collaboration with a German pianist, Andreas Kern.
The two did a song “Ave Maria’’ together under a project aptly called “Piano meets the Mbira”.
This inter-cultural exchange project was initiated and supported by the German Embassy.
Masike chronicled the birth of “Piano meets the Mbira”.
“The idea was pitched by the German Embassy. They got in touch with me some few months ago and from then on, we have been sharing ideas and working on the project,” the mbira songbird said.
A dancer and songwriter, Masike said she wants to be involved in projects that help develop mbira music.
“I agreed to this collaboration because anything involving the forward movement of mbira music is a yes for me. Using the classical piano and our classical traditional mbira was a great idea; it came out even much better than we had imagined,’’ said Masike.
She, however, spoke about the challenges she faced when she was working on the collaboration.
“Producing the song was challenging as I play the Nyunga Nyunga type of mbira and it has 15 keys only. I had to master the chords and have them sound different.”
“Despite the challenges, the song came out beautifully,” said Masike, who is also gifted with a smooth, polished voice.
Masike is on cloud nine as “Ave Maria” is being well-received on social media platforms.
“I was delighted as my fans received the collaboration well and are asking for more. My fans know that I like trying new things and are urging me to produce more unique vibes,” said Masike, who leads the Monoswezi Band.
Her music has its roots in both traditional and modern music.
A former Fine Arts student, Masike urged Zimbabweans to embrace modern mbira beats.
“Let us continue to reinvent and discover new possibilities of mbira music and redefine it. Mbira music is the heritage that our ancestors left for us to use,” said Masike, who is popularly known as “The Princess of Mbira”.
She graduated from the Zimbabwe College of Music, where she studied Ethnomusicology before making a breakthrough in the music industry in 2008.
She was the inaugural winner in the Outstanding Female Musician category at the National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA) in 2013.
In 2016, she was nominated for the same category.
The same year, one of her songs, “Huyai Tinamate”, was nominated for the Best Traditional Female Artiste category at the KORA Awards.
Twitter: @NicoleLarah1
