Orchestra Ethiopia
| Company type | Concert band |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Founder | Halim El-Dabh |
| Defunct | 1975 |
| Headquarters | Addis Ababa , Ethiopia |
| Products | Music performances, albums |
Orchestra Ethiopia was an Ethiopian concert band established in 1963 by Halim El-Dabh, an Egyptian-born American composer and ethnomusicologist. Originating in Addis Ababa, the ensemble brought together as many as 30 traditional musicians, singers, and dancers representing a variety of Ethiopian ethnic groups such as the Amhara, Tigrayans, Oromo, Welayta, and Gimira. This group was pioneering in its integration of diverse instruments and cultural backgrounds. For a period, Orchestra Ethiopia was based at the Creative Arts Centre of Haile Selassie I University, now known as Addis Ababa University.
Overview
The ensemble featured key traditional instruments including the krar (a medium-sized lyre), masenqo (a single-string fiddle), begena (a large lyre), washint (an end-blown flute with finger holes), embilta (an end-blown flute without finger holes), malakat (a straight trumpet), and kabaro (a drum), alongside various percussion instruments. Occasionally, the group incorporated the tom, which resembles an mbira.
Performances frequently included theatrical components, such as the play The Potter, which was arranged by El-Dabh.
Following El-Dabh’s departure from Ethiopia in 1964, leadership passed to American Peace Corps volunteer John G. Coe (1964–1966) and later to Tesfaye Lemma (1966–1975), both of whom contributed as composers and arrangers. In 1968, Charles Sutton, Jr., a Harvard-educated Peace Corps volunteer, assumed the role of Administrator and performer until 1970; he became proficient on the masenqo and sang in Amharic. The Orchestra regularly performed at hotels, the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, national radio stations including Radio Voice of the Gospel, television broadcasts, and even had the honor of performing before Emperor Haile Selassie I.
In 1969, facilitated by Sutton and the Peace Corps, Orchestra Ethiopia toured parts of the Midwest and East Coast of the United States under the name "The Blue Nile Group," presenting concerts in twenty cities such as Manhattan’s Town Hall and making an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
The group produced two LP albums named Orchestra Ethiopia: one released around 1969 on Tempo Records under "The Blue Nile Group," and another issued circa 1973–74 via Blue Nile Records. They were also featured in the National Geographic documentary Ethiopia: The Hidden Empire (1970). The turmoil resulting from the Derg revolution led to the ensemble’s dissolution by 1975; however, numerous members continued their musical careers individually or with other groups.
Prominent musicians from the ensemble include washint player Melaku Gelaw and Tesfaye Lemma, both currently living in Washington, D.C.; masenqo player Getamesay Abebe and drummer/vocalist Zerihun Bekkele remain active in Ethiopia. Washint player Yohannes Afework retired from Addis Ababa’s Mazegajabet Orchestra. John Coe has retired to Wyoming; Charles Sutton performs jazz piano in Connecticut while occasionally playing masenqo. Several past members have since passed away.
Archival audio recordings preserved by Ethiopian-American engineer Andrew Laurence were issued in Europe at the end of 2007 and later released in the United States in February 2008 as volume 23 of Buda Musique’s Ethiopiques series, accompanied by liner notes authored by Sutton and Lemma.
In 2007, Nahom Records brought out Zoro Gettem (Reunion), recorded in Washington, D.C. during 2006. This release features four former members—Charles Sutton, Getamesay Abbebe, Melaku Gelaw, and Tesfaye Lemma—performing selections from their late 1960s repertoire.
Discography
- Albums
- Orchestra Ethiopia: Blue Nile Group (1969, Tempo Records)
- Orchestra Ethiopia (released in 1973 or 1974, Blue Nile Records)
- Featured artist
References
- El-Dabh, Halim (1964). "Music Enriched by Traditions from the Depths of Time." The New York Times, September 20, 1964, section 2, page 15.
- Jabbour, Alan, and Joseph C. Hickerson (1970). "African Recordings in the Archive of Folk Song." The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, July 1970 (volume 27, number 3), pages 283–288.
- Kimberlin, Cynthia Tse (2005). "Orchestra Ethiopia 1963-1975: Halim El-Dabh as a Catalyst for Innovation and Preservation in Music." In Multiple Interpretations of Dynamics of Creativity and Knowledge in African Music Traditions: A Festschrift in Honor of Akin Euba on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, edited by Bode Omojola and George Dor. Point Richmond, California: MRI Press. .
- Publications & Foreign Languages Press Department, Ministry of Information (1968). Music Dance and Drama in Ethiopia. Patterns of Progress series, Book 9. Addis Ababa.
- Seachrist, Denise A. (2003). The Musical World of Halim El-Dabh. Includes CD. Kent State University Press.
External links
- Interview with Kay Kaufman Shelemay from Afropop Worldwide
- Review on PopMatters