Carmen launches debut album

10 Dec, 2017 - 01:12 0 Views
Carmen launches debut album Carmen Hwarari Mutengo

The Sunday News

Carmen Hwarari Mutengo

Carmen Hwarari Mutengo

Rumbidzai Mbewe, Sunday Life Correspondent
SHE is a strong young Zimbabwean woman who is passionate about music and the arts, a path she has followed throughout her life which has led her to become highly respected in music circles, and carrying the cultural flag to audiences beyond our borders, in Southern Africa and Europe.

Carmen Hwarari Mutengo is a vibrant, gifted young Zimbabwean singer, musician and music teacher. Last week she launched her exciting debut album ‘‘I Call to You’’ in a lively concert at the Harare International School in Mount Pleasant.

The album ‘‘I Call to You’’ is Carmen’s debut solo album and most of the songs on the 10-track album have a gospel incline and some are insightful social commentary. The album is diverse but with a strong African identity in terms of rhythms and vocals.

In an interview, Carmen said she was working on having another launch next year in Bulawayo as it was her hometown and where the music began. She said the launch will be the same as the one done in Harare which was in form of a concert recorded live bringing an international standard to Zimbabwe, a product for the global market.

“It is important to me that we create a product that will be worthy of the world charts, and that will have more people appreciating the art and the talent that Zimbabwe has to offer. It will be a fresh, energetic product, an expression of creativity and musical ideas, a story of different emotions and a message of peace and happiness,” she said.

Carmen said she was very passionate about delivering a product that will be a pace-setter and standard-breaker for her generation and the generations to come. Travelling around the world, she has picked up a lot that has made her an open minded musician.

“I have received international exposure in the past and I believe that this will be my breakthrough production, and I am passionately pursuing every opportunity to make sure it’s the best that it can be. There is so much musical diversity in the world, so much passion in the arts, aesthetics and how people express themselves freely through art. I have indeed seen that music is a universal language, which cuts across all aspects, brings humanity together,” she said.

Carmen has not toured different countries as a performer only but she has had the opportunity to lead workshops training people on Zimbabwean music and culture as well.

“I am a lifelong learner and I enjoy sharing the Zimbabwean story as well as learning about other people’s cultures. I have particularly enjoyed how people in the many countries I have visited, preserve their culture, I particularly loved India and Swaziland,” she said.

Despite the current success in her career, Carmen lost her voice when she was pregnant with her first born child and could not sing for two years. This did not discourage her because she knew that she was born to do music.

“I knew deep down in my heart that there is still a race I must run, I was patient and believed in Him whose mandate I carry and today I celebrate my debut album with the world. You can never do it alone and as long as God is in the equation, all things will work together for good,” she said.

She urged those who have made a mark in the industry to continue to shine as they are the ones who give hope to those who are aspiring to in the music sector.

“We look up to you and we support you. You are our mentors and we look forward to receiving the torch from you and carrying it forward with positive energy,” she said.

Over the years, she has worked with a number of icons in the Zimbabwean music industry who include Busi Ncube, the late Andy Brown, and Willom Tight, among others. Carmen is married to Taona Mutengo, a musician in his own right, guitarist, songwriter and lecturer in the music department at Midlands State University and they have a five-year-old daughter who is already following their music path. -@rumbie_mbewe

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