Experience the healing mbira music used to connect with the ancestors for over 1,000 years in Zimbabwe. Erica Azim fell in love with this complex entrancing music at the age of 16, and was one of the first outsiders to study with Zimbabwean master musicians. Learn more about the music at mbira.org.

Mbira is the name of an instrument and genre of sacred healing music. Often referred to as the "thumb piano" since it is played principally with the thumbs, the mbira from the Shona people of Zimbabwe consists of 22 - 28 keys.

The melodic sound of the mbira is unique and enchanting, unlike any other instrument on earth. There is a characteristic buzz from the metal beads which is considered an essential part of the mbira sound, as it is said to clear the mind of thoughts and worries so that the music fills the consciousness of both musicians and listeners.

This will be a rare and magical offering of healing sound from a gwenyambira - a skilled performer accepted by the ancestors to play at traditional ceremonies.

All the proceeds of this concert will be donated to a non-profit called MBIRA which supports 290 traditional musicians and 20 instrument-makers in Zimbabwe.

About Erica:
Erica Azim is a Californian who fell in love with Shona mbira music when she first heard it at the age of 16. In 1974, Erica became one of the first non-Zimbabweans to study the mbira in Zimbabwe with traditional masters of the instrument. At that time, Zimbabwe was racist Rhodesia in the throes of a liberation war. Touched by the arrival of a young white woman who respected ancient Shona tradition — a stark contrast with the white government that reviled it — musicians extended a warm welcome.

Although banned by the Rhodesian government from visiting the rural areas which are the home of mbira tradition, Erica easily found many mbira teachers in the capital city of Harare (then Salisbury). After a first mbira lesson with a stranger on a train (story), Erica studied seriously with Ambuya Beauler Dyoko, Cosmas Magaya, Mondrek Muchena, Ephat Mujuru, and others. By studying with many teachers, Erica was able to develop her own personal mbira style within the tradition.

Erica is known in Zimbabwe as a gwenyambira – a skilled performer accepted by the ancestors to play at traditional ceremonies, and teach mbira to others.

Erica is particularly adept at making mbira music accessible to American audiences and mbira students, and others around the world who are new to mbira music.