Thanks for highlighting their tour Angela. Here’s some more info and some YouTube links :
The Sowers Group are :
Mike Matumaini,
Christelle K Mugeni,
Kosto Zahinda,
Oswald Basoka.
Fusing contemporary East African Gospel grooves with traditional rhythms from Rwanda, D.R. Congo and Tanzania, their vocal sound is as rich as their message is vital.
The touring band has been expanded to include Nkurunziza Nyembo, Mwambalo Mubibya Felis & Andy Sorenson for Australia and New Zealand.
The Sowers have a remarkable story. They will be bringing beautiful songs of personal triumph and a message of great hope to the people of Australia and New Zealand in March/April.
You can view The Sowers Group’s latest clips here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAYORfkVtpM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FRU4kc09HI
Translator Records and Musical Arts Mission are honored to present The Sowers Group. Touring Australia / New Zealand - March - April 2009.
These incredible musicians have overcome great adversity to bring us beautiful songs and a remarkable story!
Monday 23rd Mar The Basement - SYDNEY NSW
8.45pm $25
29 Reiby plc CIRCULAR QUAY
Tickets available at
http://www.thebasement.com.au
Friday 27th Mar Gracepoint Christian Church SYD NSW
Tickets $15 adult, $10 Student, $40 Family
PHONE: 02 9399 5959
7.30pm - 10 Soudan St, Randwick SYDNEY
Saturday 28th Mar Mount Druitt area SYD NSW ( ** Address below )
OPEN TO ALL PUBLIC
* FREE CONCERT ( but donations welcome )
7.00pm
*** • Date: Saturday 28th March 2009, 7pm
• Venue: The Emerton Community Centre,
• Location: Corner of Jersey Rd and Cropland Road, Emerton.
http://www.compassion.com.au/
Two former Compassion assisted children have left behind childhoods of extreme poverty and civil unrest to share the message of Jesus Christ through their music.
In March and April, Mike Matumaini and Oswald Basoka, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, will take stages across Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales–including a concert at Sydney’s premier venue The Basement and headlining at Easterfest–to share their stories of purpose and hope from countries of turmoil and tragedy. Joined by childhood friend Kosto Zahinda and Mike’s Rwandan wife Christelle K Mugeni, they make up The Sowers Group, a band with purpose that is sharing its sound outside of East Africa for the first time thanks to Translator Records, Musical Arts Mission and Compassion Australia.
Performing songs like Stop and You Live In Me, The Sowers Group mesmerises audiences with gospel grooves and traditional rhythms from Rwanda, DR Congo and Tanzania. For their Australian tour, they are joined by Nkurunziza Nyembo from Rwanda, Mwambalo Mubibya from Tanzania and Andy Sorenson from Australia.
The Sowers Group is touring New Zealand, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland in March and April and we’d love you to come along. Check out the tour dates and find more information on Translator Records’ website.
View the official Sowers Group tour promotional video :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=AU&hl=en-GB&v=a4_qtaN9yXo
THE SOWERS GROUP BACKGROUND
In 1996, Mike and Oswald’s family fled their hometown of Bakavu as bombs fell and bullets fired. With a group of others, they grabbed what possessions they could carry and on foot set out for a safe haven. Thirty days later and more than 600km, they found themselves deep in the equatorial jungle and anything but safe. Bandits surrounded them, stole their belonging and put a gun to their heads. “They were about to kill us when Oswald started to cry,” Mike says. “By the grace of God, they let us go. We were no more than 10 metres down the road when we passed another family who were being executed by the same bandits.” It was in this moment that both boys knew God saved them for a reason. “We felt God tell us we were called to the nations.”
More to come
Two years after returning to their original home of Bakavu, Congo, The Sowers Group was performing in concert when half of the audience disappeared. Unrest had broken out and, together with their listeners, they crawled almost 20km to freedom. A year later, rebels stormed a place where they were eating, killing some and taking young boys as child soldiers. The following day they decided to leave for Rwanda, which they subsequently left four years later as refugees. Today they live in Tanzania.
Changed lives through Compassion
Both Oswald and Mike were part of Compassion’s holistic child development program for 10 years, which helped their widowed mother, who lost her husband when Mike was two months old, to provide for her family. They remember receiving everything from shoes and school supplies to food and clothing, but make special mention of Christmas presents and assistance with school fees. “Our mother tried her best to take us to school, but all she could afford was to enable us to finish secondary school,” Mike says.
Today their church runs a Compassion child development centre for more than 300 children.
Cheza!, recorded in Arusha, Tanzania is available from Koorong, The Planet Company, iTunes and all major retail stores.
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