BY TAFADZWA KACHIKO
ORGANISERS of the Masvingo Music Awards could not host the annual event last month because it was undergoing a re-branding process that has seen it rechristened Masvingo Music and Arts Awards to accommodate other art disciplines.
The sixth edition of the awards, which used to be held during the first weekend of April focusing only on music, will now be held every second weekend of August, incorporating other arts disciplines.
Masvingo Music and Arts Awards co-founder Proud Masekesa told NewsDay Life & Style that the rise in theatre, television and film productions in Masvingo province prompted them to rename the awards ceremony to honour such work.
“We renamed the awards to Masvingo Music and Arts Awards to incorporate theatre, film, poetry and dance. This was prompted by an increase in the number of theatre, TV and film products such as Seiko, Gehena Harina Moto, Crucibles, Solo naMutsai, and Zimbabwean Warrior. This would see us introducing new categories such as Best Theatre Production, Best Short Film and Best Poet,” he said.
“We will also merge some music awards to come up with Best Dancer or Dance Group, Best Promoter, Best Music Video and Best Male Artist of the Year. Since we are introducing new categories, we felt it necessary to move the awards ceremony to the second weekend of August to allow more time for submissions, nominees selection process and to seek sponsorship.”
Masekesa said they were going to call for submissions in July and the jury will then release the nominees list.
Over the past years, the awards have also honoured individuals that made a significant contribution to the development of Zimbabwean music, including Jonah Moyo, DJ Kauleza, the late Leornard Dembo, Andy Brown and Paul Matavire under the Lifetime Achievement award.
