The Sunday News
Mbongeni Msimanga
THE timeless imbube melodies of the Insingizi outfit brought Austria to life when they shared the stage with Grammy award-winning artiste, Brian McKnight recently at a show dubbed Hollywood in Vienna.
The group that took to the international scene a few years ago in search of greener pastures have been a much-sought-after act and headlined various festivals across Europe.
A member of the group, Vusa Mkhaya Ndlovu expressed delight on the way they had made an impact in Europe.
“We shared the stage with award-winning Brian McKnight and two other artistes at a show recently in Vienna. We were mainly performing Hollywood soundtracks and all two nights were sold out. We did not expect the whole show to come out, but I must say we were successful. The reception was good and it is always good collaborating with such artistes,” he said.
Insingizi’s name is derived from the African ground hornbill bird whose call can be heard at a distance of up to three kilometres away and perhaps the name suits the group perfectly as their call has been heard from miles away, while raising the Zimbabwean flag high.
Mkhaya said they had exchanged contacts with McKnight and hope to work on a collaboration project sometime soon.
“We exchanged contacts with McKnight and we are hoping something comes out of it. Nothing much was discussed. Our music is popular in Europe, but also North America so something should come out of it,” he said.
Mkhaya said this was their chance to raise not only the Zimbabwean flag high but to also to identify talent they were hoping to bring to Austria.
“We are watching many groups in Zimbabwe and we have identified quite a number, some of which do not know that we are watching them. Telling them will only get them too excited, but all I can say is that Bulawayo has a lot of talent. If we introduce them to the European market and they do well, it will be an opportunity for them to continuously come to Austria,” he said.
The group’s rose to fame in 2010, after they were awarded with the Prix France Musique du Monde 2010 (Radio France World Music Award) at the Babel Med World Music Forum in Marseille France.
Their music has also been featured in various documentaries on TV stations that include the BBC (UK), ORF (Austria), ARD (Germany), PBS (USA) and ARTE (France) to mention but a few.
