Improviser's Exchange: Workshop with 'Samaita' Vitalis Botsa and Erica Azim

One of the greatest living improvisers of Shona classical mbira music, master musician Vitalis "Samaita" Botsa creates breathtaking waves of sound with his mbira (thumb piano), connecting the living with the non-living (one's ancestors).

Samaita lives in northeastern Zimbabwe where he teaches mbira to school children, performs in traditional ceremonies, and farms with his family. He is featured on eleven mbira albums.

A musician who has worked in Zimbabwe and Berkeley, CA, Erica Azim is known for her expertise with Shona mbira music. She founded MBIRA, a non-profit in Berkeley supporting traditional music of Zimbabwe through education, performances, and recordings in the United States and worldwide.

'Samaita' Vitalis Botsa and Erica Azim will be offering an admission free Shona mbira workshop (1:30pm at the Community Center for the Arts in Urbana) and performance (4:00pm at the Hotel Royer) as part of the CU Folk and Roots Festival on Saturday, October 4, 2025. More information is available at: CU Folk and Roots Festival.

Improvisers Exchange Workshops provide opportunity to engage in sound and thought with leading figures in the field.

Open to all, admission free.