Abraham Dumisani Maraire, known to friends as "Dumi", was a Zimbabwean musician.
11 Facts About Dumisani Maraire
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Dumisani Maraire was a master performer of the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona people of Zimbabwe.
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Dumisani Maraire specialized in the form of mbira called nyunga nyunga, as well as the Zimbabwean marimba.
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Dumisani Maraire introduced Zimbabwean music to North America, initiating a flourishing of Zimbabwean music in the Pacific Northwest that continues into the 21st century.
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Dumisani Maraire began learning music from family members, and later at the college of music in Bulawayo.
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Dumisani Maraire taught from 1968 through 1972 at the University of Washington in Seattle.
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Dumisani Maraire remained in Washington state until 1982, teaching at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, giving private music lessons, and performing in cities of the Pacific Northwest and in British Columbia with several marimba groups he founded.
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Dumisani Maraire returned to Zimbabwe with his family in 1982 to develop an ethnomusicology program at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare.
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Dumisani Maraire died of a stroke on 25 November 1999 in Zimbabwe.
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Dumisani Maraire has been credited with having "inspired thousands of Americans to explore Shona culture by building and performing on mbiras and marimbas, providing a vivid example with his own family".
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The late Chiwoniso Dumisani Maraire was described as the "Zimbabwe mbira queen" and "a true ambassador of the Zimbabwean culture".