20 years of MoZuluArt
"Let's do something with Mozart" - with this sentence from Ramadu, the lead singer of "Insingizi", an extraordinary musical story began 20 years ago. Insingizi had just recorded their CD "Voices Of Southern Africa", which in the following years brought them great recognition and a gold award for 250,000 albums sold in the USA. He was saying this to Roland Guggenbichler, who was working as a Piano/Keyboard accompanist for well-known Austrian artists at the time, and Roland immediately agreed to be part of this musical adventure.
A clever name for the project was found in "MoZuluArt", and in 2006 Universal Music Austria released "Zulu Music Meets Mozart", the group's debut album. Some of the pieces on it have become classics and are part of every live performance: "Bheka kimi", Blessings' arrangement of the Rondo in D major by W. A. Mozart, or "Phakathi", MoZuluArt's version of the aria "In diesen heil’gen Hallen" from The Magic Flute. The aforementioned "Bheka kimi" is included twice on the album: once by MoZuluArt, i.e. 3 voices and a piano, and once as a live recording from Vienna's Rathausplatz, where the ensemble is accompanied by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
This collaboration with outstanding classical musicians has continued in the many performances that MoZuluArt has performed with the Viennese "Ambassade Quartet". From Dakar to New York and from Nyon to Beirut, the successful mix of classical and African music has caused a sensation in Austria where MoZuluArt is highly valued. In 2024, at the invitation of star tenor Rolando Vilazon, the ensemble gave three acclaimed concerts as part of the Salzburg Mozart Week.
