Mbira Maestro Mbuya Stella Chiweshe Has Died
Mbuya Stella Chiweshe, the revered musician and Mbira Maestro, has died. She was aged 76.
According to reports, Mbuya Chiweshe died this morning at her Kuwadzana residence in Harare.
The Mbira Maestro is renowned for a number of popular compositions which gained international acclaim, including “Huya Uzowona,” which served as the theme song for the wildly popular yesteryear comedy series “Gringo.”
he death of Mbuya Stella Chiweshe was confirmed to national broadcaster ZBC by a close relative, Rector Kandemiviri.
Kandemiviri told ZBC News,
“She wasn’t feeling much well of late, coupled with age. The last time she came kumusha (home) she was saying her days are almost up and as such, she needed to settle back home.”
Stella Rambisai Nekati Chiweshe was born on July 8, 1946 in Mujumi Village, Mhondoro, Zimbabwe.
She was well-known throughout the world for her singing and playing of the mbira dzavadzimu. The mbira is a traditional instrument of the Shona people of Zimbabwe, which was culturally forbidden for women to play.
Mbuya Chiweshe learned to play the instrument between 1966 and 1969 when very few women dared to play it.
In 2020, Google featured the Mbira in the Google Doodles. Google wrote,
Today’s interactive Doodle celebrates Zimbabwe’s national instrument, the mbira, as Zimbabwe’s Culture Week begins. Try your own hand at this instrument that has been played for over 1,000 years, while experiencing a story as told through the lens of a Zimbabwean girl who learns to play the mbira.
Originating in Southern Africa, the mbira has long played an integral role in the traditions and cultural identity of Zimbabwe’s Shona people. It consists of a handheld hardwood soundboard (gwariva) affixed with a series of thin metal keys, which are plucked by the thumbs and forefinger. A large hollow gourd (deze) provides amplification, and materials such as bottle caps or beads can be affixed to the soundboard to create the instrument’s signature buzzing sound.
After becoming proficient with the mbira, she went on to earn a contract with Teal Record Company, which is now Grammar Records and released her debut single, “Kasahwa,” which achieved gold status.
Chiweshe recorded more than 20 singles for the same label between 1975 and 1978, but it wasn’t until Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980 that she found international recognition.
Mbuya Chiweshe was not only a gifted musician but also an accomplished actor. She appeared in the 1989 Godwin Mawuru movie “I Am The Future.”
Mbuya Stella Chiweshe spent the majority of her time in Germany and was married to German national Peter Reich.
She is also survived by her daughter Virginia Mukwesha, who is also a musician, having been taught to play mbira since she was 12
