There is no better place to prepare for a
career in music than the Berklee School of Music in Boston, U.S. and it
takes some special talent to be admitted to this elite institution.
From legends like Quincy Jones to Chaka Khan, the list of Berkeley alumni reads like a who-is- who in the music business.
Since
2008, Berklee’s Africa Scholars Programme has held auditions in
Nairobi, Accra and Durban to offer talented musicians from across the
continent the chance to be awarded scholarships to attend the college.
Wambura
Mitaru was one of two African candidates awarded a full scholarship in
2010 for four years of study after what the interview panel described as
her “natural talent and musical instincts.”
TRAINED IN CLASSICAL MUSIC
Mitaru
was trained in classical music while in high school and she hoped to
join Berklee straight from school to study classical music but there was
a detour through Daystar University.
She earned a
bachelor’s degree in Communication and it is at Daystar that her music
really took off after she joined a nine-member gospel group called
Afrizo that toured 15 states in the U.S for three months in 2007.
She also took classes at the Conservatoire of Music before successfully attending the 2009 auditions to join Berklee.
Mitaru
is a currently a music major studying education and music business and
management. She is a music director of the college’s African Club and
founded the Berklee Winter Closet in 2012.
Her
experience on arriving in Boston in 2011 in the middle of a ferocious
winter planted an idea in her mind to help students who come from warmer
parts of the world by collecting used winter coats, hats and scarves
and donating these the students from warmer climates.
In 2012 when Mitaru was asked to sing at a concert at the Boston public library, she had to put together a band to support her.
During
her first college semester, she shared a class with Egyptian Moez Dawad
who had played percussions during some performances where Mitaru was
singing. It was therefore natural that she would turn to him to join the
group.
Later, through a mutual friend, Mitaru was
introduced to South African student Sebastian Reunert, “a chilled guy
who played guitar”. They also shared a class in 2012 and before long she
asked him to play with her.
Thus was born the Wambura
Mitaru Synergy, a three-member group with Mitaru as composer and
lyricist. Moez combines the various rhythms into the music while
Sebastian blends contemporary guitar with rhythms of his South African
heritage
Last year, they played at three concerts as
part of a series called Summer in the City held in neighborhoods
throughout the Boston Metro area. This is touted as an event where the
world’s next great artists showcase their talent.
The
Grammy award winning American jazz bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding
began her career performing at this event while she was a student at
Berklee.
Go to Business Daily to read the full article
http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Wambura-Mitaru-going-places-in-US/-/1248928/2166764/-/s0ecwb/-/index.html
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