Masanga Marimba Ensemble
(1,2) Santa Monica College and California State University Northridge world music professor, Dr. Ric Alviso, director of the Masanga Marimba Ensemble, performs with his students at the Santa Monica Farmers Market on Sunday. The Masanga Marimba Ensemble plays music from the Shona people of Zimbabwe, much of which is centuries old and has been passed down by oral tradition from generation to generation. Playing on Shona-style marimbas from Zimbabwe, the ensemble performs music largely based on the mbira dzavadzimu, a hand-held instrument with 22-28 metal keys often used for sacred ceremonies to call, honor, and ask for advice from ancestral spirits. (3) Nicole Hill, 30, hold up her 20 month old son Kailean Ryan while he plays on the Marimba during an intermission of the Masanga Marimba Ensemble (4) David Emerson, 27, dances during the performance.



Reader Comments