Zimbabwean "Queen of the Mbira" Talks Shop
Stella Chiweshe isn't a household word.  Neither is mbira.  But she had to shake up the households of her village to become a master of the thumb piano.  

In a recent RootsWorld feature, Jennifer Byrne spends some time with Stella Chiweshe, who now lives in Germany.  Her mastery of the "thumb piano" mbira keeps her connected with her home land as well as with listeners around the world.

Chiweshe believes that the universal appeal of the gentle mbira is because its sound evokes "the sound of water, something that is innately familiar to all people... therefore the mbira is instantly memorable and comforting. It is a total form of therapy in itself."

Chiweshe relates how when she was young, her interest in playing the mbira caused problems at home.  Learning to play the instrument, and to play it with others, meant spending a lot of time with men, and having men sit on either side of her.  In her Shona village, this made the women very uncomfortable, and it even called Chiweshe's reputation into question.

Chiweshe was undeterred, becoming one of the best-known mbira players outside Africa.

Read the RootsWorld article [includes sound links to Chiweshe's music!]

Read a biography of Chiweshe in the African Music Encyclopedia