BY LILY BRYANT
It can be hard to adequately capture in words the feeling of making music with other people.
It’s an in-between feeling, as if you’re suspended above the ground, swept along in the constant entropy of the sound, communicating with those around you in a way that transcends language.
Science sometimes tries to quantify this feeling, through research into the links between social cohesion and group music-making, or studies that demonstrate how performers’ heartbeats synchronise when they sing together.
But even for professional musicians like Duduzile Sibanda of the Zimbabwean a cappella group Nobuntu, science leaves some of the magic unaccounted for.
“Being in sync, for me, is something that brings a feeling that I cannot explain,” Duduzile says.
“If you’re an a cappella musician, there are things that excite you that people who are not musicians or not artists will not understand. For me, singing in harmony and in sync – that’s the peak.”
It’s this feeling of transcendence and joy that Duduzile and her bandmates Zanele Manhenga, Thandeka Moyo, and Joyline Sibanda will share this June in Nobuntu’s Australian debut at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
The group was formed over a decade ago in the city of Bulawayo, “where we come from and were born and bred”, Duduzile recounts.
“A label called 10th District called for auditions, and it was a call for ladies who could sing the traditional a cappella that we do, which is called Imbube.”
Imbube, or mbube, is a genre of choral music that emerged from mining communities in southern Africa in the 1920s. It’s traditionally performed by all-male groups, but the singers of Nobuntu have blazed a trail as an all-female quartet, following in the footsteps of groups like prolific South African band, the Mahotella Queens.
“I remember when I was growing up, we’d hear their music everywhere. It was music that inspired, that united families, so when you grow up listening to such music you want to be that as well,” Duduzile shares.
“We need to learn and to be inspired in order for us to bring out whatever we’re presenting to people.”
Nobuntu’s music blends traditional Zimbabwean song with elements of Afro Jazz and gospel, and their upcoming program at the Melbourne Recital Centre consists mostly of original compositions including Nanguyana and Ilanga, both written by Duduzile.
“Nanguyana talks about a bride. We come from a place where marriage is really celebrated and when people are getting married, the bride always grabs the attention. So this song is talking about a bride who’s walking in, and ‘nanguyana’ means ‘there she is’.”
Duduzile continues: “Ilanga is basically talking to anyone who wants more in life. ‘Ila’ means the sun in the Ndebele language, and literally it’s saying the sun has risen, what have you done for your future?”
Through their original music, the vocal powerhouses of Nobuntu aim to use their music to educate about their culture, and spread a message of positive change.
“It feels so great to perform your own work because we believe that we are cultural ambassadors from the city of Bulawayo, so we carry our culture and tradition everywhere we go,” Duduzile says.
“Nobuntu means ‘mother of humanity’, so we take it upon ourselves to teach about everything that has to do with nobuntu, to share nobuntu with the world, because nobuntu is an umbrella term in southern Africa that embeds everything; peace, joy and love.”
This performance is an opportunity for audiences to go beyond the music, and to witness first-hand how art brings people together.
“Our audience in Australia must expect fireworks, they must expect to be educated, they must expect to feel love, they must expect to experience the southern African sound.
“They will come out with their cups full, overflowing with everything that we will bring for them from Africa.”
Experience the music of Nobuntu at 7.30pm June 25 in Elisabeth Murdoch Hall.
Images supplied. Credit Tswarelo Mothobe.
