Ramadu (vocals and percussion)
Ramadu started his career in his hometown of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, at the age of 15 as a member of Insingizi Emnyama in 1990. His real name is Dumisani Moyo but he prefers to use Ramadu as his artistic name. Ramadu was interested in traditional music and dance at an early age when he attended Mzilikazi Primary School. He attended the music and dance lessons held by the famous Kalanga singer and traditional dancer Mr. Malaba who used to visit schools to teach and revive traditional music and dance. As a child, Ramadu used to perform and entertain his uncle and other family members at home in a tiny dining-room by imitating the world famous Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s music called Mbube. The payment for the 30 minutes long “family concert” were only sweets and an extra piece of meat on the evening meal.

Vusa Mkhaya Ndlovu (vocals)
Born in Bulawayo the city of kings, Zimbabwe, on the 19th of October 1974. Vusa is a singer, songwriter, composer and choreographer whose music and dance talent became apparent at the tender age of nine when he was still in junior school.

Blessings Nqo Nkomo (vocals)
Nqo was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and did his primary education at Matopo primary school. He started his music career singing in the school choir. He finished his primary education and proceeded to Sobukhazi secondary school to do his “O level”. He began singing professionally in 1994 when he joined the group Insingizi. After being with the group for one year they toured Austria, Denmark and Slovenia. In 1996 Insingizi settled in Austria and Nqo attended music school for four years to study music theory and to play piano and drums. Besides singing with the group Nqo is working as a solo artist and has recorded two CDs to date under his name.

Roland Guggenbichler (piano)
Roland Guggenbichler was born in Braunau/upper Austria. He started to play the accordion as a child and switched to piano as a youngster. Long before “world music” was getting popular among music aficianodos Roland had his own melange of different styles in his ears and in his head, including Tyrolean folk songs as sang by his grandmother, classical music as taught in the local music school, and jazz and Rock`n`Roll. As a professional musician Roland has played with some of the most established names in the Austrian music scene, such as Kurt Ostbahn, Erika Pluhar, Hans Theessink, Hans Söllner and others.

• 2^nd appearance at the Al Bustan Festival

MoZuluArt is a project that was founded by Roland Guggenbichler (Austria), Vusa Mkhaya Ndlovu (Zimbabwe), Blessings Nqo Nkomo (Zimbabwe), Ramadu (Zimbabwe).
It is a fusion of traditional zulu music with classical music based mainly on Mozart compositions hence the name MoZuluArt. “We try to fuse these two music styles in a way that leaves room to the original song and style and not absorb a lot from it so that it stays with its authenticity”.
“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 adapt into that culture.”
When the three guys from Zimbabwe were growing up in the dusty roads of Bulawayo and listening to traditional music and pop music from their local heroes Ilanga, Lovemore Majaivana, Fanyana Dube, Solomon Skhuza, they never imagined that there was a thing called classical music in this world. Later in their teenage years when they went shopping in big departmental stores in town or when they passed outside a hotel they say “there was this funny music that was always playing which they thought was slow and boring”, little did they know that one day they will be the ones who will be singing, writing new texts and re-arranging this music they once called “slow and boring”.
Roland Guggenbichler spent a big part of his youth practicing the Piano and imitating the Beatles with his first teenage band. A lot changed when he joined the local band “Rica Salsa”. They focused on Afro-Cuban music, and Roland was fascinated by new sounds and grooves. It took another few years to discover that besides the “ndungu ndungu” drumming, African music comes in many different shapes and flavours and for sure many discoveries are still to be made.
If Mozart was still alive he would have been proud to see two cultures meeting together to celebrate his music and bringing it to an audience that never imagined that one day they will be sitting, nodding their heads and tapping their feet to his compositions.
Young as it is, this project is set for a big future, this has been evidenced by the positive remarks they are getting from music critics, fans, and the corporate world alike.
By Vusa Mkhaya Ndlovu

This performance is a gift from the Al Bustan Festival to the American University of Beirut for its 150th anniversary.
FREE ENTRANCE