DCMA holds 6-week guitar workshop in Zanzibar

Led by well-known Spanish guitarist Ricardo Garcia, the workshop is held in two parts. The first part was completed in June and July this year, culminating with a performance by Garcia and his trainees at the tenth anniversary of the University of Dar es Salaam’s Ethnomusicology Symposium.

The second part will be another six weeks of study ending with a performance at the Spanish Ambassador’s residence in Dar es Salaam on 12 October and a bigger performance at the Serena Hotel in Dar es Salaam on 13 October.

Flamenco is a unique guitar playing style that is commonly used in Spanish music.

Explaining the focus on the Flamenco style the DCMA said in a statement “The Dhow Countries Music Academy focuses on music traditions that have traveled on the small Arab sail boats from locations in the Arabian Gulf, India, Pakistan, Yemen, Oman and Indian Ocean islands to the Swahili coast, including Zanzibar. This being the case, it is also enthusiastic about other music traditions that have traveled, especially within Arab Diaspora locations.”

Garcia travels widely and has just finished a month of performances at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. He will be working with students on authentic Flamenco from traditional to modern, moving towards a fusion of elements from its own background (Indian, Arabic, African, South American, Caribbean) with modern influences such as Jazz, Latin Jazz, Bossa Nova, Salsa and others.

Besides the Embassy of Spain in Dar es Salaam, the workshop is also sponsored by Swiss Air.

The Dhow Countries Music Academy (DCMA) is situated on the waterfront in Stone Town, Zanzibar.

As an institution of music education, it provides an opportunity for the inhabitants of Zanzibar and the Dhow Region to study music related to their cultural background, with a special emphasis on broadening the educational opportunities for young people, women and children.

In 2014 DCMA partnered with the Music In Africa Foundation to implement a workshop on building the qanun in Zanzibar.

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