In this alumna concert, Jennifer Kyker '02 will perform Shona music for the mbira dzzvadzimu, or African thumb piano. Tendai Muparutsa, an internationally known performer, music educator, ethnomusicologist and bandleade, will also perform.

Mbira (the name of both the instrument and the music) is mystical music which has been played for over a thousand years by certain tribes of the Shona people, a group which forms the vast majority of the population of Zimbabwe, and extends into Mozambique. Mbira pervades all aspects of Shona culture, both sacred and secular. Its most important function is as a "telephone to the spirits", used to contact both deceased ancestors and tribal guardians, at all-night bira ceremonies.

 

Mbira comprise between 22 and 28 metal keys mounted on a hardwood soundboard and is usually placed inside a large gourd resonator, or deze. The keys are played with the two thumbs plucking down and the right forefinger plucking up.