Alleluya Band leaves for Italy
Alleluya Band Wednesday left for their annual Italy performances.
They flew to Italy through Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe and are expected back on August 22.
One of the oldest members of the musical group, Coss Chiwalo, said Wednesday before departure that apart from Italy they will also visit Jerusalem.
“We are excited to go to Italy again. These are important annual performances where we reach out to different audiences but also get to network with other artists. Again through these performances we raise funds for different projects back home,” Chiwalo said.
He also said that the annual Italy performances offer them a platform to show what Malawi is all about in terms of music, its people and culture.
Chiwalo, who has several albums to his credit but has not produced any album lately, said they were ready to give people in Italy the best.
“We have been conducting intensive rehearsals and we are geared to show people some of the traditional dances we have in Malawi,” he said.
He said last year the trip was more focused on raising funds for Comfort Clinic and that they were doing the same this year.
“We would want people to access good health services Andiamo and other surrounding areas cannot afford to pay for health services so we would want to raise funds so that we have free health services,” Chiwalo said.
He said this year was even special in that they will visit Jerusalem for the first time as part of celebrating 40 years of the group’s existence.
“We will visit Jerusalem from June 20 through to June 28,” Chiwalo said.
Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea.
It is one of the oldest cities in the world and is considered a holy city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
This will be Chiwalo’s 13th trip.
Another member Mayamiko Taferakaso also said he was happy to make the trip to Italy.
“Of course, I have been making these trips but every year it’s always different because you learn new things as far as music is concerned but also we share new things with them,” Taferakaso said.
Alleluya Band started in 1978 and was established by Father Mario Pacific.
Alleluya Band used music to disseminate different messages.
Their music is a mix of reggae and African rumba rhythms fused with different traditional dances.
The group has also been to the World Youth Day in Rome in 2000, to Cologne, Germany in 2005, Sydney in 2008 and Madrid in Spain in 2011.
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