In an effort aimed at growing the music industry in the country and get it flourishing even on the international stage, Musicians Union of Malawi
(Mum) and Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must) engaged recently at its campus in Thyolo.
Director of Bingu School of Culture and Heritage of (Must) Atikonda Mtenje Mkochi confirmed of the meeting saying they conversed a number of issues including state of music industry in the country.
“We looked at issues of training of musicians through short courses and also that musicians could come in as resource people for our students. The other issues we discussed included the identification of young innovative talents in music, joint projects and use of new technologies in the industry,” Mkochi said.
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The university through its Bingu School of Culture and Heritage has been vibrant in terms of developing the creative sector through its various departments such as African Musicology.
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In September, the university also held a festival which run under the theme ‘Cultural Heritage for Sustainable Development’.
“We want Mum and other players in the creative sector to work together. In this case, Mum also wants us to assist them in developing apps for music and marketing as things are changing now. We plan to take the engagement further by developing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU),” she said.
Mum Secretary General Tonney Chitimatima described the engagement with Must as productive.
“As Mum we want the music industry not to be stagnant but to grow and move with the times. There are lots of things that have changed and so, if we are to build things, then we need not work in isolation,” Chitimatima said.
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He said the meeting opened doors on how Mum and Must can work together.
He added that they were looking at identifying local music talent and provide them with training through boot camps and that they will come up with an MoU to be ready by February next year.
