INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed violinist, Nokuthula Ngwenyama said she was delighted to headline the ninth edition of Bulawayo Music Festival, having last performed in the country 12 years ago.
BY SINDISO DUBE
Ngwenyama performed at the opening and closing day of the five-day festival — which is meant to celebrate classical western music — that ended on Sunday night at the Zimbabwe Academy of Music.
“I last performed here (Zimbabwe) in 2004 and it is something I had missed over the years,” she said.
“It is a pleasure to finally come back, and I have enjoyed the festival. The reception has been greater than I expected considering that this is more of a foreign culture for Africa.”
At the festival, she shared the stage with other international acts among them German cello player, Theo Bross, United Kingdom-based pianists, Coady Green, Leslie Howard and Christopher Smith and the Odein String Quartet from South Africa and local imbube outfit, Impumelelo Shining Stars.
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She is set to perform in Durban, South Africa on July 1 before gracing the North Carolina Mammoth Lake Music Festival later this year.
Ngwenyama, who has been in the music industry for more than 20 years, has performed across Europe, America and Asia, with her most memorable show being at the White House, having been invited by former US President Bill Clinton.
“I have travelled across the world and playing before the US President is one of the greatest pinnacles of my career,” she said.
“Growing up my father used to discourage me from this type of art, as he regarded it as Western type of music.” Ngwenyama was born in the US to a Zimbabwean father and American mother.