Saturday, August 6, 12:30-2:30 pm
$25.00
Register online

Learn to play the mbira (shown in photo), as played by the Shona people of Zimbabwe for over 1,000 years in both rituals and celebrations. Students will learn to play a traditional piece which has been played for centuries. (If you fall in love with the instrument, there will be the opportunity to buy an mbira and take classes in Berkeley.) For more information about the mbira and to hear sound samples of this beautiful instrument, visit www.mbira.org.

*Erica will provide extra mbiras for those who don't own one, and no previous musical experience is required.

Berkeleyite Erica Azim fell in love with Shona mbira music when she first heard it at the age of 16. In 1974, she became one of the first Americans to study mbira in Zimbabwe, and her teachers have included many of Zimbabwe's top mbira masters past and present, including Forward Kwenda, with whom she has appeared on the Freight stage. Erica currently records, performs, and leads mbira workshops throughout the U.S. and directs the non-profit organization MBIRA, which provides financial support to Zimbabwean mbira players and instrument makers.