Today for Young People’s Concert students got to see Kutapira perform.  Kutapira is a fusion of Zimbabwean Marimba, Afro-Cuban & West African rhythms, Reggae, Samba, Afrobeat, Funk, Jazz, Cumbia, Disco and Hip Hop. 

What started out thirteen years ago as a youth world music initiative has metamrphosized into the crowd pleasing percussion explosion known today as Kutapira.

The name Kutapira means “sweetness” in the Shona language of Zimbabwe, a fitting title for a band that plays a fusion of Zimbabwean marimba with West African and Afro-Cuban percussion. 

For years they performed exclusively as a mallet swinging, skin-slapping quintet but now, in their latest evolutionary form, feature guitar, vocals and electric bass.

Students thoroughly enjoyed the performance and liked learning about the different instruments and how they are constructed to create their sounds.