Students were invited on to the stage to view how the 'Mbira' (thumb piano) is played (by strumming the inside of the gourd) by the 'Queen of Mbira,' Beauler Dyoko from Zimbabwe and SMC Music Professor Dr. Ric Alviso on Tuesday November 29, 2005 during the "Music & Life in Zimbabwe" Concert by Beauler Dyoko . This event was sponcered by the Santa Monica College Associates and the Music Department. Beauler Dyoko, known in Zimbabwe as the "Queen of Mbira Music," is Zimbabwe's first woman mbira recording artist. She is leader and featured singer with the popular contemporary mbira ensemble, The Black Souls, and has regularly been invited to perform a traditional song to open the Zimbabwean Parliament. She has also performed with Mhuri yekwa Rwizi/Soul of Mbira groups for many years in Zimbabwe and throughout the world. Beauler is also a spirit medium, an herbalist, fashion designer, and teacher of traditional Shona cooking. Beauler is an active member of organizations promoting women musicians in Zimbabwe, and has written original songs in support of AIDS awareness and non-violence. She is the sole supporter of a large extended family of grandchildren, nieces and nephews in Zimbabwe.
Fabian Lewkowicz