Stars of the Namib Desert

Namibian Traditional Music and Dance Ensemble Director – Dr. Perminus Matiure

Since 2007, the organizers of the Orient festival have been embarking on cultural expeditions across Africa in search of living and authentic local musical traditions. Over the past few years, the festival organizers have spent a significant amount of time in Namibia, where they discovered this exceptional folklore ensemble.

"Stars of the Namib Desert" is a collective of performers brought together by Dr. Perminus Matiure, an ethnomusicologist and lecturer at the University of Namibia. Perminus brings the most talented musicians and dancers from different regions of Namibia to the Orient festival.

The concert program features songs, dances, and stories from the Oshiwambo, Aawambo, Tswana, and Kavango peoples. It will feature polyphonic makwaira choral singing, traditional songs, and rhythms accompanied by the mbira, nyunga-nyunga mbira, traditional drums, rattles, and the chipendani—a so-called mouth bow.

This concert is not "world music" adapted for a European audience. The organizers of the Orient festival discovered these performers while traveling through Africa itself, and their program allows you to hear the living traditions of Namibian music, dance, and storytelling as they exist today.

The voices, rhythms, and dances of the Namib Desert—in one special evening at the Orient festival.