VIENNA, 14 September 2017: As part of its intercultural activities in Vienna, the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID) played host to an open-door house concert by the band MoZuluArt, who took the audience on a musical journey from Europe to Africa.
MoZuluArt derives its name from the band’s unique compositions, fusing traditional Southern African Zulu music with classical music predominantly based on Mozart. The ensemble unites Vusa Mkhaya Ndlovu, Blessings Nqo Nkomo, Ramadu, all from Zimbabwe and the band’s pianist Roland Guggenbichler from Austria. The quartet has been making music together for more than ten years, including performances at Austria’s most prestigious concert halls and at the opening of the Vienna Festival Weeks (Wiener Festwochen) as well as outside of Austria.
The band described their unique style as rising out of a desire to connect people through music, “Music is and has always been a unifying factor around the world, bringing together people from different backgrounds, races, ethnicities and of course, traditions. It is through music that people get to know and understand other cultures and develop a liking to adopt into that culture."
In their 90-minutes programme at KAICIID’s headquarters, the band played a best of their three albums – Township Serenade, African Christmas and Zulu music meets Mozart – captivating the international audience that enthusiastically clapped their hands in rhythm. Next to the exceptional musical performance, one of the highlights of the evening was the endeavours of the band to engage the audience, including the vocalist Vusa’s attempts to teach the concert guests a few words in Khoisan with the language’s characteristic click consonants.
Opening the concert, KAICIID’s Director General Fahad Abualnasr highlighted that KAICIID gives intercultural projects a platform in the Centre’s Hall of Dialogue.
“Every day we work to communicate shared values through a traditional dialogue with words and speech. Through music and other forms of art, we can create dialogue that knows no linguistic barriers. That is what we try to do through our intercultural activities.”
KAICIID’s intercultural activities will continue on 10 October 2017 when three experts in Arabic, Chinese and Western calligraphy will present art works from their respective cultures at KAICIID. The evening event offers the unique opportunity to experience the real-time making of calligraphy accompanied by live music from the respective regions. To register please send an email to dialog@kaiciid.org