Millie’s mission is to bring the lived experience of women in Zimbabwe onto the international world music stage through performance, and although her music goes deep into ancient cultural heritage, it’s clear that she is keen to sing out loud for change on gender issues and the barriers affecting women in the diaspora & back in her home-country, and this gives her a real edge onstage.
A Millie Chapanda performance is a celebration Shona-style that calls on dancing ancestral spirits to rise through the trance of mbira’s cascading notes to answer the call of the voice & the insistent pulse of deep ngoma drum & hosho shakers
Since arriving in the UK 20 years ago, Millie has been an essential part of the lively Zimbabwean cultural diaspora, first recording & touring with the legendary Batanai Marimba and World Muzik Makers, then collaborating with Anna Mudeka, Kuda Matimba’s Harare & Zee Guveya’s Heritage Survival Band before performing & touring with the late great Chartwell Dutiro in his last years. She has performed onstage at WOMAD, London Barbican & Royal Festival Hall, at Shambala & countless other festivals and arts venues over the years.
Millie is also the founder of Mbira Blues, a UK forum that shares & connects traditional mbira musicians, mbira enthusiasts, academics & cultural activists, and is a key member of the Midlands arts & refugees network Celebrating Sanctuary Birmingham.
Onstage: vocals, mbira, ngoma, hosho, storytelling