Traditional Chewa Music at MADSOC

On the weekend, the Lilongwe girls and I went to a matinee concert at the local theatre, recommended to us by a co-worker.  It featured the court musician of the Chewa king (who lives in Zambia), and one of his students.  It was very intriguing, and the musical instruments he used were neat to experience.  There were some that were drums, a rainstick, xylophone, and a thumb piano housed inside a carved and painted gourd.

The musician and his assistant wore traditional clothing made out of animal skins harvested from animals that died of natural causes.  He also told storied with very odd morals at the end - we are still puzzling over the connection between some of the stories and their summation statement.  It was definitely an educating afternoon and we enjoyed learning more about the Chewa culture and hearing some of the traditional music and stories.

Cute small child story:  As it was a matinee aimed at children, there were quite a few running around.  A few three and four year old girls were racing past and one stopped and stared at me.  She managed to sputter out, "You have pink hair... like... like, a fairy!" and then continued on!