“We are very much musicians in our own right, and we will prove that on stage,” the duo shares, alluding to how the Gogo musical tradition placed limitations on women. “We want to leave a lasting impression and live up to our names as the Zawose Queens.”

VFMF (July 18–20) is one of many musical festivals – including Eary Music Vancouver’s Summer Festival (July 26–Aug. 8) and the Surrey Fusion Festival (July 19–20) – bringing song and dance to the lower mainland this summer.

Empowering women

The Zawose Queens come from a highly acclaimed musical family. Pendo is the daughter of Hukwe Zawose, an internationally renowned Tanzanian musician; Hukwe performed at the U.K.’s World of Music, Arts and Dance festival and recorded albums with Real World Records.

“Gogo music is traditional music, so most of the songs and instruments are played in different celebrations,” Pendo shares, citing weddings and funerals as occasions. “Every song traditionally has a place and purpose; it’s very melodious and we use a lot of vocals.”

Accompanying the vocals are sounds of traditional instruments, such as the thumb piano (a wooden board with metal tines). The duo’s first album, Maisha (2024), combines these traditions with electronic music.

“Harmonies are very, very important in terms of our vocals,” Leah explains, noting they use harmonies in many ways. “If someone is going high, the other one has to go low or in the middle.”

Pendo and Leah found themselves inclined to music at a young age, despite Gogo gender roles that limited women’s musical participation. Traditionally, women could only play the muheme, a drum held between the performer’s thighs. Challenging this tradition, Leah would secretly play her father’s thumb piano.

For their upcoming performance at VFMF, the duo will first perform a solo set, followed by songs from their album with their band. The solo set will be a traditional ritual that calls in their ancestors using the muheme. The Zawose Queens hopes to “leave a lasting impression” of inspiration – particularly for women who have had to “fight for their place.”

“Anything is possible, no matter what environment you come from, you can still break through the narrative and make something of yourself and be proud,” Leah adds.

Improvisation on stage

Celebrating 55 years, Early Music Vancouver’s Summer Festival presents Silk Strings (July 29, Christ Church Cathedral), a musical dialogue bridging baroque and traditional Chinese instruments. For director Christina Hutten, the concert’s unifying theme is folk songs, which welcomes improvisation from performers.

“In the baroque tradition in the western world and in traditional Chinese music, making improvisation and ornamentation, or adding decoration to a melody is kind of the core of how music works,” Hutten shares.

For the director, the improvisation is guided by the idea that each player knows what their instrument “really does best.” Hutten adds that this process mysteriously and magically unfolds on stage in a musical conversation that “happens at the level of intuition.”

The ensemble plans to do fewer improvisations during their performance of the older western music. They plan to instead creatively showcase the improvisations written down by players during the 17th and 18th centuries – a period that saw musical and other cultural exchanges between the east and the west.

“We know that the Chinese court was very, very interested in some of the western stringed keyboard instruments, like the harpsichord and the clavichord,” she adds. “There was a lot of interest from European music theorists in the ways that Chinese musicians were talking about the science of sound.”

Silk Strings will feature two complementary groups of instruments, selected for their “matching timbres.” The first includes western instruments – violin, cello, historical trombone, and harpsichord. The second consists of traditional Chinese instruments, including the erhu, a bowed stringed instrument; the suona, similar to a contemporary oboe; and the zheng, a plucked zither. The program will also feature Sheng, a polyphonic free reed instrument; the western double bass will also make its appearance.

“Tying it all together, we have a percussionist who will be playing a tremendous collection of all sorts of percussion instruments, from both traditions, and perhaps even more world traditions,” Hutten shares.

The concert also incorporates the storytelling common in folk music. Composer and erhu performer Lan Tung, who is also artistic director of Sound of Dragon Ensemble, has chosen an autobiographical song written by an aristocratic woman during the late Han dynasty. The song tells the story of her captivity by the Huns and eventual negotiation for release.

Silk Strings’ program also includes a brand new composition from Edward Top, based on poetry from the Tang dynasty. The ensemble will also play the University of British Columbia professor Dorothy Chang’s composition “That Bare Light.” Inspired by contemporary Canadian poets, the piece explores themes of love and loss expressed through the natural world’s imagery, resonating with the poetry of Top’s composition.

“To enter into a space where art is being created right in front of you, that’s never been heard that way before, it’s a really special thing” Hutten shares. “I hope that it is sort of a springboard for people to explore what improvised cultural exchange means to them in their own lives, in perhaps a non-musical context.”

Finding new ground

Quilombera Afrocolombian Ensemble (formerly Suma Qamaña) will bring their fusion of three cultures – Colombia’s Indigenous flutes, African drums and European lyrics and dressing – to the Surrey Fusion Festival on July 20 at Holland Park. This cross-cultural mix, which is reminiscent of Latin America’s colonial history, has long been of interest to the ensemble’s founder Bruno Bosio.

“Back in 2011, I was travelling the south of Argentina in Patagonia, and I met a band who was playing this music with the traditional flute from Colombia, drum from Colombia,” he adds. “I got really impressed by that music because it’s a mix of Indigenous music from Colombia with African rhythms.”

In 2014, Bosio formed a group in his hometown of Santa Fe, Argentina. The group, called Suma Qamaña, recorded an album and went on tour. Around a year ago, Bosio moved to Nelson, B.C. and sought to continue this tradition, forming Quilombera with five other musicians: Kateryna Melnyk (lead vocalist), Clara Marcela Cano (llamador drum), Eddison Funeque (tambora drum), Luisa Pineda Zuñiga (Djembé drum) and Estefanía Navarro (choir).

“We play different rhythms from Afro-Columbian traditions, one is cumbia, which originated in the northern part of Colombia,” Bosio shares. “Through the centuries, this [music] spread around the continent, and nowadays, you can find many different ways, many different bands who play cumbia.”

While other groups have expanded the genre to include electronic instruments, Quilombera is focused on cumbia’s traditional expressions. Bosio himself plays the flute, bass and maracas; he also contributes to the group’s choir.

They plan to showcase around 15 to 20 songs at the upcoming festival in Surrey – featuring both traditional and new tunes. For Bosio, Quilombera is very much a continuation of his former ensemble; they play “more or less the same” instruments while creating new songs.

“We want to share this music with the people of Vancouver, with the people of Surrey,” Bosio adds, noting the ensemble is preparing to record their first album. “We want to spread our music as much as we can across B.C., across Canada.”

Prior to their Surrey performance, Quilombera will perform in Balfour, B.C. at the Balfour Daze (July 5) and Nelson, B.C. at The Royal (July 17).

The Zawose Queens interview was conducted with translation by Aziza Ongala.

For more information on the Vancouver Folk Music Festival (July 18-20), see www.thefestival.bc.ca

For more information on Early Music Vancouver’s 2025 Summer Festival (July 26–Aug. 8), see
www.earlymusic.bc.ca/emvs-2025-summer-festival-in-endless-ascent

For more information on the Surrey Fusion Festival (July 19–20), see www.surreyfusionfestival.ca