YourClassical MPR Class Notes for the 2023-2024 Season

Mikaela Marget and I are beginning our third year teaching as a duo called Heliopsis.

This year, we will be changing up the instruments that we use and the style of our teaching, bringing in more storytelling and the African string instruments with greater emphasis. We will continue to play original music for various traditional instruments from Sub-Saharan Africa, cello, and voice. Our music ranges from raucous and dance-like to serene and peaceful. Each tune has an element of improvisation, so no two performances are the same.

Heliopsis is a 2023-2024 MPR Class Notes participating ensemble, and is available to school groups for educational performances.

We invite you to listen and watch a sample lesson of ours here.

Named a McKnight Fellowship for Musician Finalist

I am grateful to have been selected as one of none finalists under consideration for a McKnight Musician Fellowship in 2023. Although I was not selected to receive the financial support, I am honored to have been recognized for my unique musical voice and the contribution I wish to continue to bring to my community. I was most proud to read in the panelist comments the following words:

“Continue to follow the voice of your ancestors and share your musical vision. Thank you for your artistry…Inventive playing…Wonderful to be in your generous presence today. Your joy infuses each move you make with your instruments in hand.”

Selected as a Voting Member of the Recording Academy

It is with excitement that I share I have accepted the nomination to join the Recording Academy as a voting member.

I’m honored to be part of the new @RecordingAcademy member class and join the countless creators and professionals who serve, celebrate, and advocate for our music community year-round. #IAmTheAcademy

You can read more about the Recording Academy and its membership on their website here: https://members.recordingacademy.com/s/?language=en_US

Billboard Article: https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/recording-academy-new-voting-members-invitations-1235108187/

Please follow me on Instagram at @NyttuXhongo

YourClassical MPR Class Notes for the 2022-2023 Season

Mikaela Marget and I have enjoyed MPR Class Notes so much that we are signing up for a second year teaching as a duo called Heliopsis, creating improvisational works featuring Timbila, Mbira, and Cello.

When choosing a duo name, Mikaela Marget and Nyttu Chongo wanted something that reflected joy and light. They settled on Heliopsis, the scientific name for Sunflower, which captures the forward moving energy of the ensemble.

Heliopsis plays original music for various traditional instruments from Sub-Saharan Africa, cello, and voice. Their music ranges from raucous and dance-like to serene and peaceful. Each tune has an element of improvisation, so no two performances are the same.

Heliopsis is a 2022-2023 MPR Class Notes participating ensemble, participating for the second year in a row.

I invite you to listen and watch a sample lesson of ours here.
Man with yellow shirt holding an mbira

MacPhail Global Music Initiative 2022 Artist in Residence

I am honored to share that I have been named a 2022 MacPhail Global Music Initiative Artist-in-Residence.

As it is stated on the MacPhail website, the GMI Artist-in-Residence Program offers 8-month residencies at MacPhail Center for Music to foster cultural change in our communities through passion and creativity in music. Believing that supporting and investing in diverse voices challenges current ideas of music education pedagogy, this program is a commitment to become a deeply anti-racist organization by giving diverse voices a platform to share their creative stories, challenge ideas, and question the nature of existence.

Selected recipients are provided artistic and educational opportunities to promote a culturally thriving tomorrow.

Logos for Clean Water Land & Legacy Amendment and for Minnesota State Arts Board

This activity partially made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

 

Project: Echoes of Africa: An Experience with Iconic and Disappearing African Instruments 

This project creates collaboration with top-tier artists to amplify the sounds of disappearing African instruments through the MacPhail Global Music Initiative residency program. Chongo will develop and create a master class series on African improvisation, culminating in an original work of approximately 30-40 minutes performed with the faculty and students of MacPhail. In addition to this series, an EP of original, improvisational creative works featuring Mbira Dzava Dzimu, Mbira Nyunga Nyunga, Xitende, and Timbila of Mozambique. To support the master class series, twice-monthly “jam sessions” will be open to community members for creative practice and musical experimentation with their own instruments or using traditional African instruments. Participants are encouraged to come as they are with an open mind to let go of their musical inhibitions, learn, and improvise from the examples shared.

About the Artist

Nyttu Chongo is a musician and composer from Maputo, Mozambique now living in Fridley, Minnesota. He builds, repairs, and plays traditional Mozambican and Rwandan instruments such as the Chopi Timbila, Xipendane,Xitende, Xizambe, Mbira Dzava Dzira, Mbira Nyunga Nyunga, Dju Dju, Timbila, Bombo, Ligoma, Hudo, Xocalhos, Djembe, Pwangue, Kora, and Inanga. A 2020 Minnesota State Arts Board Initiative grantee, his mission in life is to make the voices of his ancestors heard in these instruments and let their stories speak so that the world does not lose this essential musical and cultural heritage.

Since moving to Minnesota in 2016, Nyttu Chongo has made a local name for himself on both large stages and community settings across the Midwest, opening for the production of Familiar at the Guthrie Theater in 2018, leading workshops at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Spurlock Museum in 2020, and performing at numerous festivals, libraries, and schools. He is currently developing an original work for the 2022 Cedar Commissions (through the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis, MN) called Nkovu Wa Xivavu, which means “A Celebration of Pain.” This piece weds the voices of Central, Southern, and West Africa through the inanga, xitende, and kora. These iconic and disappearing African string instruments from three distinct regions of the continent (Rwanda/Burundi, Mozambique, and Senegal) have never been played together in a single work. By featuring these instruments with deep African soul together at the heart of this improvised and spirit-led piece, Nkovu Wa Xivavu sings of an Africa divided with the opportunity to rediscover itself, illustrated through thin individual strings woven together to become a stronger, united continent.

Artist in Residence

The 2022 Cedar Commissions – The Show

Last night’s performance at the the Cedar Cultural Center’s 2022 Cedar Commissions was an incredible time of celebration of many things: Home, our Ancestors, Pain, Loss, and the Connections we have with each other.  It was my joy to present Nkovu Wa Xivavu, “A Celebration of Pain” on the Cedar’s stage. With just three months to create this music, rehearse, and bring it all to light, this was an ambitious project that was supported all along the way by the generosity and talents of many artists, friends, volunteers, and of course the amazing employees of the Cedar Cultural Center.
I would like to thank God for the gift of life and my ancestors for the honor to be able to share our tradition with many different people. Third, I would like to thank all who collaborated with me on this work: Karin Valdizan, Jason Burak, Mikaela Marget, and Svetlana Davis brought energy and passion to this project. I want to thank my wife Erin Olson for her selfless support. A special thanks to the Cedar Cultural Center for this opportunity to express ourselves as artists and individuals.

The songs of the evening came out in a little different order than planned, as sometimes does when the ancestors speak. Kokandindasse came before Xlhokonono last night. Since I was not able to share the meaning behind Xlhokonono during the show, I want to be sure to share all the musical interpretation here. for you.

  1.  Sinyanguena (I’ve Arrived)
  2. Pfulani ti Dleve (Open Your Ears)
  3. Xlhokonono (Oppression)
  4. Kokandindasse (The Press-Wheel Roller)
  5. Ubuntu (Come Together)

You can download the translation to the night’s music here:  Nkovu Wa Xivavu_final

Loader Loading...
EAD Logo Taking too long?

Reload Reload document
| Open Open in new tab
You can also read an interview I gave about Friday’s performance of Nkovu Wa Xivavu here, which explains the story behind the music and my philosophy about music and life:
If you can make it out tonight, join me in watching the second evening of Commission artists: Vie Boheme, Alicia Thao, and Kat Parent. https://www.thecedar.org/cedar-commissions

The 2022 Cedar Commissions

I am so grateful and honored to be featured this year as one of the Cedar Cultural Center’s 2022 Cedar Commission artists.  This Friday, I will be performing Nkovu Wa Xivavu, which means “A Celebration of Pain” on the Cedar’s stage at around 8:30PM, between two other amazing artists who are also commissioned artists for the evening. This all-original, new work has never been performed before and I am so eager to share this music with the world.
From top to bottom: Kora, Inanga, and Xitende.
My collaborators on this project include:
  1. Mikaela Marget, Cello
  2. Jason Burak, Cello
  3. Svetlana Davis, Viola
  4. Karin Valdizan, Violin

Practicing during the Pandemic was a significant challenge. After I worked for several months composing the work, we gathered in pairs and practiced for a month one-on-one at my home before eventually coming together for our final two weeks of group rehearsals all together.

Rehearsal with Karin Valdizan.

The songs we will be performing include:

  1.  Sinyanguena (I’ve Arrived)
  2. Pfulani ti Dleve (Open Your Ears)
  3. Xlhokonono (Oppression)
  4. Kokandindasse (The Press-Wheel Roller)
  5. Ubuntu (Come Together)
The Cedar Cultural Center has published a news article today featuring an interview I gave about Friday’s performance of Nkovu Wa Xivavu. You can read it in full here:

YourClassical MPR Class Notes for the 2021-2022 Season

On September 16, 2021 the preview of our duo’s edition of Class Notes with MPR made its debut. I have been collaborating with the wonderful Mikaela Marget as a duo called Heliopsis over the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic, creating improvisational works featuring Timbila, Mbira, and Cello.

When choosing a duo name, Mikaela Marget and Nyttu Chongo wanted something that reflected joy and light. They settled on Heliopsis, the scientific name for Sunflower, which captures the forward moving energy of the ensemble.

Heliopsis plays original music for various traditional instruments from Sub-Saharan Africa, cello, and voice. Their music ranges from raucous and dance-like to serene and peaceful. Each tune has an element of improvisation, so no two performances are the same.

Heliopsis is a 2021-2022 MPR Class Notes participating ensemble.

I invite you to listen and watch our latest lesson here.

Thank you to all who supported the LIBANDZUWA CD release

The CD release celebration on 6/30/2021 was a special day for me–thank you to the 45 individuals who stopped by to listen to my album and celebrate life together.  It was such a joyful day, and I was honored to have each of you there.  A special thanks to the Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts in Fridley, Minnesota for hosting, and to Ifrah Mansour for hosting the Q/A and artist interview after the listening session. Thank you as well to Doug Ohlsen for providing sound equipment to hear the album, and of course to the Minnesota State Arts Board and the National Foundation for the Arts for making this work possible.
I would like to share a few photos from the evening.  Please take a look, and don’t forget to take another listen to LIBANDZUWA on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon Prime, or anywhere else you get your music today.  You can purchase an album on my website shop for a total of $11 (including tax and the fees for card transactions) or directly from me at any of my shows for $10 in cash.
“Libandzuwa” means “the power of the sun” in a language from Mozambique. I hope you are all able to bask in the healing power of the sun this summer as our world begins to exit such a challenging chapter.
 
    
Loader Loading...
EAD Logo Taking too long?

Reload Reload document
| Open Open in new tab

About LIBANDZUWA, My Album Being Released Next Wednesday

This album is highly personal. It lifts up the joys and anguish of being an artist and musician in a world that values productivity. It is both a celebration of life and a cry for help, it is both a prayer for peace and a call for justice. I believe that I was called to use music to heal and bring people together. With this album, I hope to deliver the will of my ancestors and bring peace, joy, and healing to others.
The overarching theme of this body of work is a calling back home. The mbira is a spiritual instrument that is capable of calling lost souls back to their ancestral roots. I believe that I am not the creator of this music, instead it comes to me from the spiritual world. These are the sounds of the universe. Some of these songs come to me in dreams. The artists that collaborated on this album were selected song by song not only by my ancestors, but theirs as well. Their contributions carry meaning and show the power of the spirits that connect us to each other.
“Libandzuwa” means “the power of the sun” in a language from Mozambique.  It is also the name that I gave to my son, who was born just at the start of this musical journey. He is now approaching two years old, and seems to embody the joy, light, and energy of the very sun itself.  The title track on this album is a love song to my son. The lyrics of the first verse are translated:

Quando você nasceu, eu me renascí.                      When you were born, I was reborn.

Quando voce riu, eu chorei.                                      When you laughed, I cried.

Quando voce sorriu                                                     When you smiled,

Nivonile mashory.                                                         I saw miracles.

Quando voce chorou,                                                  When you cried,

Aprendi nova canção.                                                  I learned a new song.

I hope you can join us celebrating the release of this album on 6/30/2021 at the Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts in Fridley, MN.
Listen to a sample of the song “Libandzuwa” on my HearNow page, or see where you can download or stream it.

Nyttu Chongo – Xipendane, Vocals  //  Carlos Cartys – Pan Pipe Flute, Quenacho  //  Matt Grosso – Electronic Drum Kit