People

Ngoni Mugwisi

Zimbabwe

Biography

Ngoni is a musician, scholar and leader. He plays the mbira, a soothing lamellophone traditional to Zimbabwe that has charmed audiences for almost a thousand years. He is passionate about preserving the music and pursued ways of documenting it. He has played in many settings including receptions in Zimbabwe, festivals in Arizona, an art gallery in the US, schools in Japan, recitals in Oxford and notably at the official opening of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights. At Oxford he is a DPhil Candidate researching power electronics for universal electrification applications as a Rhodes Scholar.

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“This one is called “Chigwaya”. Chigwaya is a type of fish. This song was played in the traditional days when people were going fishing and it was a prayer to increase the catch. So I guess our catch here is peace. So I am going to hope and pray that you get whatever you are trying to catch. ”

Ngoni Mugwisi