ZimFest Concert Schedule

The lineup for ZimFest 2010 concerts is now available!

http://2010.zimfest.org/concerts/

Friday Evening

• Anzanga Marimba Ensemble
• Russ Landers
• Kurai Mubaiwa
• Renold & Caution Shonhai with Erica Azim
• Wagogo
• Chiroto Marimba Ensemble
• Loveness Wesa and the Bantus

Saturday Evening

• Pachi Pamwe
• Joel Laviolette
• Lora and Sukutai
• Musekiwa Chingodza and Friends
• Boka Marimba
• The Ande Marimba Band

Sunday Evening

• Njuzu Mbira
• Chinyakare Ensemble
• Cosmas Magaya and Friends
• The Chris Berry Orchestra
• Kutandara
• Ruzivo

To see the schedule for daytime concerts check: http://2010.zimfest.org/concerts/

Register for ZIMFEST – Corvallis, OR – Aug 20-22

The new ZimFest registration site, http://2010.zimfest.org/, is in full swing and getting rave reviews!

"Very nice job on the registration website, it works great and it's easy to use! I especially like how you can view the workshops in several ways, like clicking on the teacher and seeing what classes he/she teaches." ~Doug Epps

Wonderful workshops and captivating classes are open and waiting for your registration!

• Move your body in a Zimbabwean dance class offered by Julia Chigamba, Lora Chiorah-Dye, or Lucky Moyo.
• Don’t miss Chris Berry's Advanced Marimba Composition class on Sunday.
• Joel Laviolette, who does not make it this far west very often, is offering classes on Matepe mbira, Sungura style guitar, and Nyanga panpipe music!
• How about a Renold Shonhai or Caution Shonhai workshop? A great way to meet Zimbabweans new to this venue is to take one of their classes.

Join the Thursday Evening Opening Ceremony and Concert on August 19, featuring the dedication and blessing of ZimFest 2010 by our elders and performances by Kudana Marimba and other regional marimba groups!

Mark Your Calendars!

Planning is well underway for Zimfest 2010, the largest gathering of Zimbabwean music fans in North America, which will take place over the weekend of August 20-22, 2010 on the campus of Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, US. The OSU campus located in the “heart of the Willamette Valley” will provide a low cost, close in, extended family feel for Zimfest 2010. Double occupancy rooms in dormitories will be under $50 per person including 3 meals. The outdoor concerts and marketplace will be created in large field directly across from the dorms. Evening concerts will be staged in a brand new, state of the art performance hall. And most importantly, we will welcome many old and new friends to attend workshops, to teach to perform and to hang out together!

Mark your calendars now to attend Zimfest 2010, “Timeless Rhythms: Deep Roots, Many Branches”.

Please visit this blog often or go to www.zimfest.org to keep informed of upcoming announcements about teachers, performers, workshops and date the registration guide will go online. For more information contact 2010@zimfest.org

Zimfest 2010 Artwork Contest - Submissions Due Soon

The Zimfest 2010 organizing committee invites you to submit designs and artwork for use on Zimfest 2010 poster, t-shirts and other promotional material. We would like submissions to be related to the theme of "Timeless Rhythms." Additionally, we suggest "Deep Roots, Many Branches" and "2010: A Musical Odyssey" as possible avenues of expression for this theme.

Please submit your designs electronically at 2010@zimfest.org by February 1, 2010 after reading the legal information at the end of this email. The organizing committee will make its selections by March 1, 2010. In general, Zimfest is not able to reimburse artists for the use of their submission. However, if your design is chosen as the headlining design for this year's festival, you will receive $100 as well as free tickets to the evening concerts at Zimfest 2010. In addition, full credit will be given to other artists whose submissions are used elsewhere.

Legal information: By submitting your work to 2010@zimfest.org, you grant
the Zimfest Association an irrevocable, perpetual license to reproduce the
submitted work in whole or in part in any medium, electronic, physical or
otherwise.

Zimfest 2010 Teacher/Performer Application -Deadlines Fast Approaching

Zimfest 2010 is excited to announce that both the teacher and performer applications are available online. You can follow the link below to download the forms:
http://www.zimfest.org/2010/forms.html or go to www.zimfest.org and open the link under Zimfest 2010 in the upper right corner. Please read through both the teacher and performer information sheets which provide directions to help you fill out the applications.

Teacher applications are due by February 1, 2010. For more
Information, please contact teachers2010@zimfest.org .

Performer applications are due by March 1, 2010. For more information, please
Contact performer@zimfest.org .

Some notes for non-US citizens on teaching and performing at Zimfest

Zimfest welcomes Zimbabweans and others who are not US citizens to teach and perform at our yearly festivals, but the situation is this:

1. Zimfest does not sponsor visas for non-US citizens—however, a US working visa is required for a non-US citizen to teach or perform at Zimfest. For a US working visa (visa types P, O, Q, and a few others), a US sponsor organization or agent must apply for the visa on behalf of the Zimbabwean—you cannot directly apply for these types of visa yourself.
2. Zimfest does not pay airfare or other international travel expenses for Zimbabwean musicians.
3. Zimfest generally does not pay for performing.
4. Zimfest does pay an hourly amount for teaching workshops in Zimbabwean music, culture, language, etc.
5. Zimfest does cover travel within the US (with some limitations) for Zimbabwean teachers.
6. Zimfest does provide full room and board for Zimbabwean teachers during Prefest (the day before Zimfest when private lessons and privately arranged classes may take place) and the Festival each year.
7. Zimfest does provide an excellent opportunity for musicians and teachers to become known to the North American Zimbabwean music community at large, and thus to be considered for future work together.

It may seem puzzling that we are able to get any Zimbabweans at all to Zimfest under these circumstances. The explanation is that there are Zimbabwean music enthusiasts, organizations, and students of the music who yearly sponsor Zimbabwean musicians they know to come to the US and tour, including a stop at Zimfest. Generally, just coming to Zimfest alone does not pay enough to justify travel from Zimbabwe, visa expenses, etc.

Perhaps someone might suspect that someone here is getting rich off of Zimfest, instead of doing more to sponsor Zimbabwean musicians. The reality is that Zimfest is a nonprofit organization, and we who put on Zimfest are groups of volunteers who donate countless hours to putting on Zimfest each year, for no pay. If we do more than break even at a festival, we return the money to Zimbabwe via charitable organizations working to help with health, education and famine relief in Zimbabwe.

If you are a non-US citizen interested in teaching or performing at Zimfest, I would encourage you to work with a US citizen or organization you know to sponsor you. Your sponsor may want to work with an immigration lawyer as well.

The teacher and performer applications for Zimfest 2010 will soon be available on our Zimfest website - but again, there will be no point in applying if you don't know who will be sponsoring your visa.

I would also be happy to talk with you further about these topics, or anything else you would like to know about Zimfest.

We appreciate your interest!

Marilyn Kolodziejczyk
Zimbabwean Guest Coordinator
Zimfest 2010

Zimfest calendar

At the last meeting of the organizing committee, we finalized the dates for these events:

November 15: Teacher and Performer applications released
February 1: Teacher applications due
March 1: Performer applications due
March 15: Registration guide published
April 20: Registration system becomes active

You can expect the performer and teacher applications to be similar to those for Zimfest 2009.