Blantyre in Malawi and Hannover in Germany are twin cities and this year the two cities have clocked 50 years since they entered into a relationship.
In fact there is a street in Blantyre known as Hannover named after Hannover City in Germany.
That’s the beauty of the relationship which on Saturday saw Hannover City Mayor Stefan Schostok and Blantyre City Mayor Wild Ndipo signing a memorandum as part of renewing the partnership.
In celebrating the partnership several activities were lined up including the Fete de la Musique Festival which brought together several acts from different countries.
According to available information, the Fête de la Musique, also known as Make Music Day or World Music Day, is an annual music celebration on June 21.
The concept of an all-day musical celebration on the days of the solstice was originated by the French Minister of Culture, Jack Lang. The festival later became celebrated in 120 countries around the world.
The Fête de la Musique’s purpose is to promote music in two ways where among others amateur and professional musicians are encouraged to perform in the streets, under the slogan “Faites de la musique” (“make music”, a homophone of Fête de la Musique).
Malawi was not left out of the equation as musicians Patience Namadingo and Princess Chitsulo performed on the international stage known as Kropcke.
Patience and Princess are based in Blantyre and so this was a perfect occasion to highlight the Blantyre and Hannover relationship.
On the Kropcke stage, the two acts shared the stage with among others, Crawford Mac from Unesco City of Music Glasgow and Maharaj Trio from Unesco City of Music Varanasi.
With their first outing in Europe and in Hannover, Germany, the two acts showed what Malawi is made of when they entertained people with their sound.
Princess was the first to hit the stage and backed by Patience’s VIP Band featuring Chambota Chirwa on bass guitar, Chisomo Ngondo on keyboard and Chikondi on drums, the audience sampled the best of traditional gospel from the singer.
“My name is Princess Chitsulo all the way from Malawi, Africa. I am happy to perform here in Hannover for the first time and for the first time at the Fete de la Musique Festival,” Princess said.
With the Blantyre City Mayor and councillor Gertrude Chirambo among the audience, the singer received support.
Princess took a different style with her music as she fused it with traditional dances and she cemented her performance with some dancing that drew the audience to the edge of their seats.
Wearing a Chitenje dress and carrying the country’s flag, Chitsulo warmed up the stage for Patience dishing out among others the track ‘Nyimbo Yanga’.
Her performance was not long but it was enough for her to leave a mark and tell her music story.
It was enough for her to take people on a journey, travelling all the way from Southern Africa.
And performing in Chichewa, she proved that music has no boundary as apart from a few Malawians including the Blantyre City mayor singing along to the songs she offered, the others were nodding their heads and dancing along.
“Performing here for the first time I didn’t know what to expect but you have given me all the support and I am thankful. I am looking forward to coming again for more performances,” Princess said amidst cheers from the audience.
Her performance at the Fete de la Musique came barely a week after she also performed at another venue in Germany.
The Fete de la Musique Festival which had several stages attracted a lot of people.
Random interviews with some people including Germans indicated that they were impressed by Princess’ music.
“I am from Hannover; I have heard a lot about Malawi through the partnership and would love to visit the country one day. And today I have enjoyed the music from the musicians,” Janika said.
Patience took over from where Princess had left off and backed by the same VIP Band, he blew the audience away and no wonder when he finished his set, some people started calling for more.
The singer and guitarist, who is a brand ambassador for Ecobank and MultiChoice Malawi, also performing in Europe for the first time starred in Switzerland first before moving on to Germany.
“Thank you for the support Germany, your support has shown us much love. Wherever we have performed it’s been great and here in Hannover you have done the same,” Patience said.
Before patronizing the Fete de la Musique, some people decided to play a fast one and watch music videos on YouTube by the two Malawian musicians so as to have an idea who they were.
A South African, who only identified herself as Sphiwe said:
“I live here and so every time African artists perform here I make sure I do not miss their concerts. It’s amazing that our music is being embraced here and if our governments can do more in terms of supporting artists, our music will reach every part of the world.”
Princess and Patience might have performed in Hannover for the first time but they surely sold Malawi to the world as the festival is attended by people from all over the world.
Mayor of the City of Blantyre said he was impressed with the performances of Patience and Princess.
“Good performances from the two artists no doubt about that and you saw how people were dancing to their songs and they have represented us well,” he said.
Malawi might be ranked the third poorest country in the world but in music at the Fete de la Musique it counted itself among the best.
In fact the performances of Patience and Princess at the Fete de la Musique were not only representing Malawi but the African continent as they were the only ones at this year’s gathering with some choirs officially closing it at the station stage.
Several other acts from Malawi have done well to sell the country to the world through music but there is need for more especially embracing top festivals.
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