Ethno Malawi, which held its encampment in May this year at Chingalire Cultural Centre in Lilongwe, will for the first time send two representatives to Ethno Spain.
The two reps – Sangwani Ngulube and Khumbo Mkandawire, who are also alumni of Music Crossroads Malawi Academy—leave for Ethno Spain today and are expected back on July 17 2023.
Ngulube, who plays the bass guitar and was part of the Ethno Malawi Music Camp 2023, said he was looking forward to sharing traditional music from Malawi.
“I am excited to represent Malawi in Spain but also ready to learn, jam and interact with fellow musicians from around the world,” he said.
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Mkandawire said she has always longed for such opportunities.
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“We need such opportunities if we are to grow. I cannot wait to share Malawian culture with the people I meet,” the vocalist, who also plays the guitar, said.
Music Crossroads Malawi Director Mathews Mfune said yesterday they were happy to continue their effort of sending representatives to different Ethnos to showcase works from Ethno Malawi.
“We will be sending more representatives to Ethnos this year. We are excited to make a debut at Ethno Spain with Sangwani and Khumbo,” Mfune said.
He revealed that they will also be sending Asante Maulidi and Cynthia Duma to Ethno Flanders.
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“We are also working on Ethno USA, Uganda and Zimbabwe. We should be able to send our reps to all these.
“We hope this will improve how our youths view traditional music and we hope they are getting inspired from the world to promote our traditional music heritage and propel our identity,” Mfune said.
He said there was progress for Ethno Malawi and that, apart from sending representatives to various Ethnos, they this year received the Ethno Stone which went on a tour of Ethnos across the world.
Ngulube and Mkandawire’s appearance at Ethno Spain comes barely three months after Vanessa Lita and Don Chisenga represented Ethno Malawi at Ethno Mozambique.
Ethno Malawi has in the past years also sent representatives to Ethno Sweden (Gift Banda, Jerusha Chipingo and Chisomo Makunje) and Ethno Croatia (Phalyce Kumdana and Tendai Chazima).
