The Program Coordinator and Music Teacher: Carla Starck began studying the Shona-style music in 2000, and became immersed immediately. Over the years she has been a member of three professional performing groups – Musangano, Zebra Marimba, and currently the popular Low Flying Knobs www.LowFlyingKnobs.com, performing annual and special events and venues including Performance Park in Estes Park, The Bolder Boulder race event, The People’s Fair (Denver) and KRFC’s Live at Lunch Series at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins to name a few.
Carla learns from regional teachers and guest artists from around the world including Zimbabwe. She hosts traveling artists and travels to participate in regional and national music festivals and marimba camps. A consummate learner, teaching the music adds to her learning of these complex African rhythms.
The Local Scene: ‘Fort Collins MARIMBA’ began in 2005 by Carla Starck upon receipt of the custom-built set of 7 marimbas that was close to a year in the making! Since then, she has passed on the music to youth, teens and adults, teaching as she is taught, through hands-on demonstration, offering regularly scheduled classes and workshops to students of all ages (starting age 7).
Her student ensembles also celebrate and share the music at local venues including Streetmosphere, Bohemian Nights at NewWestFest, Poudre School District, Poudre River Public Library, Fort Collins Historical Museum, CSU World Unity Fair, Fort Collins Symphony Guild Musical Zoo, Avogadros Number and a variety of fundraisers and benefits.
The National and Global Scene: This style of marimba music was first introduced in 1968 in Washington when Zimbabwean Dumisani Maraire came to Seattle to teach at the University of Washington. Enthusiasm quickly evolved as ‘Dumi’ (affectionately called) and his students performed around the Pacific Northwest for a number of years. And as Dumi’s students have moved around the country and beyond, so has the music. Pockets of Zimbabwean music scenes have sprung up around the world over the years, many tracing back to Dumi’s introduction.
The Source of Inspiration: Zimbabwe, Africa. The music has always been an oral tradition, passing old and new rhythms and melodies within families, and from teacher to student through demonstration, primarily on drum and mbira. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the marimba was added as a teaching tool to introduce into schools — and this is how it primarily continues today. Now, numerous teachers, young and old travel to and from Zimbabwe each year to share culture through music. In additional to local scenes, a good place to meet up with other Zim music enthusiasts and teachers is Zimfest, typically an annual Zimbabwean Music Festival that began in 1991. Go to www.Zimfest.org for past and present event information.