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Xiquitsi celebrates a five-year dream with five new seasons
2:07 CAT | 02 May 2018
O País
The Xiquitsi project returns in 2018 to celebrate its fifth anniversary with five events to match the age of the project that has become a reality thanks to a great deal of energy, hard work and investment. One of the most signficant investments has undoubtedly been artistic director Kika Materula, who has changed her life and come to live fulltime in Mozambique at 100 percent to develop the project.
In Kika Materula says Xiquitsi’s five years have transformed the country’s musical life, training of composers and hosting unprecedented concerts combining traditional musicians with the classical orchestra.
“We formed a youth orchestra and today we have an experimental children’s orchestra and a choir. Several concerts were organised here, not only in the Classic Music Season, but also at the invitation of various companies and institutions. The five years of Xiquitsi have seen a lot of growth, a lot of learning and many victories,” Materula says.
However, the Xiquitsi does not exist in a vacuum. The dream of making classical music a national phenomenon has come true thanks to the generosity of various sponsors and supporters, such as diplomatic missions, embassies and companies.
“Without this support, we could not have brought in the musicians who have been training our students and performing here, would not even be able to support the students with lessons, we would not have had the room and instruments for the lessons. Of course, there would not be a project without the Kulungwana Association. Xiquitsi is the largest project of the Kulungwana Association and requires a daily effort from all employees,” Materula acknowledges.
One of the highlights of the Xiquitsi story in recent years was the orchestration of traditional Mozambican music. The project created performances from diverse sources such as the brothers Willy and Aníbal, Banda Kakana, Gabriel Chiau, Hortêncio Langa. not to forget the beautiful voice of Xixel. In the same creative spirit, Xiquitsi orchestrated songs from texts by great Mozambican and Portuguese-speaking writers like Paulina Chiziane and Mia Couto, and saw Calane da Silva singing poetry.
More recently, last year, the classical music melded with Mozambican popular music in Stewart Sukuma’s voice, recreating his themes and fulfilling the author’s dream of performing with an orchestra.
Another important moment for the project came when Estevão Chissano, one of Xiquitsi’s students, wrote a 24-minute mass with five movements. We have never seen anything like this in the recent history of the country. With training and exchange of experience (the students having played with musicians from the international music scene), with talent and commitment, the fruit has matured and fallen from the tree, to Kika Materula great satisfaction.
On the subject of pride, the project’s artistic director felt she had touched the sky when two Xiquitsi students won a YouTube contest and went to Seoul International Community Orchestra Festival last year where they played with an orchestra of young people from around the world. This month, Florencio Manhique, Kleyd Alfainho and Inerzio Macome are in an orchestral internship and participating in the Viseu Spring Music Festival in Portugal through a partnership between this Festival and Xiquitsi. Another no less important partnership resulted in an exchange of experiences between students of the Xiquitsi Project and the Neojibá Project in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil.
Xiquitsi currently has about 200 students playing violin, viola, cello, contrabass, oboe, clarinet and percussion. A class that started this year in partnership with the band Timbila Muzimba is teaching the students with a Mozambican teacher living in Portugal, Aldovino Munguambe.
Materula says that the project has graduated students from different neighbourhoods, and has reached out to the entire city of Maputo.
Through Xiquitsi, artists from South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, China, Spain, Finland, France, England, Israel, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Uruguay and Venezuela, the country, which inspired Xiquitsi. [El Sistema] visited Mozambique.
Amazing voices from Xiquitsi classic music project welcoming guests to the sound of African and #irish music to celebrate #StPatricksDay #GlobalGreening pic.twitter.com/XG1rSWKkJm
— Embassy of Ireland (@IrlEmbMaputo) March 15, 2018
Barclays Moz starts celebrating 40y with amazing concert by Xiquitsi! Tks to them, all our customers & friends who joined us. More 2 come… pic.twitter.com/mWC0abBVgD
— Rui Barros (@ruimlbarros) November 14, 2017
#TBT #Mozambique‘s Xiquitsi celebrated the 130th #anniversary of their capital city #Maputo. Their #orchestra #premiered a Mass composed by one of their own students – a very historical event! Listen and learn more here: https://t.co/jlmPzAdDQM
— The World Ensemble (@TheWorldEns) January 11, 2018
Source: O País
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