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Mbulelo Mpofu, Showbiz Reporter
This week, Bulawayo-based music hub, Zimbabwe Academy of Music added fresh faces to their workforce with the introduction of a trio of talented individuals to bolster its teaching personnel.

Well, before we get into the new recruits, let’s get an overview of what the Zimbabwe Academy of Music is all about. The Academy was formed in 1949 and has been on its present site since 1953.

The Academy’s facilities include the Robert Sibson Hall which seats 400 people and is widely regarded as acoustically, the finest small concert hall in Southern Africa.

It possesses two Model D Steinways, both fine instruments, with one generally acknowledged to be the best piano in Zimbabwe.

The hall plays host to over a hundred Academy events annually and is also available for hire for all forms of music and conferences among other events.

This is the place where realisation of musical dreams is top of the agenda.

Besides basically teaching music, the institution also specialises in international accreditation, sustainable learning, performance arts, local and international concerts, sustainable education, teaching, classical training, vocal coaching, music library, artiste management, and instrument maintenance.

Zimbabwe Academy of Music also serves as a cultural hub as it teaches traditional music.

Now, back to the aforementioned trifecta of talent, the individuals include new vocal coach Mrs Christine Nyoni, new mbira instructor Mr Pardon Gwiriri and new drumming instructor, Mr Erastus Nleya.

Saturday Leisure caught up with Nleya to ascertain how he is settling in the institution particularly where he is stationed, the percussion department as well as other endeavours he is occupied with.

“The Zimbabwe Academy of Music is a legendary institution where classical music was and still is taught with class. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the place where music lives.

I’ve always had a love for music and started drumming in 1998. If my memory serves me well, my first gig was in 2006 and I was fortunate enough to record at the now-defunct Gramma Records before its closure.

“My interaction with the institution is not new as I once studied for an International certificate and sat for my exams at the establishment.

So, they have seen me quite a lot, especially with me doing Intwasa Arts Festival, The Harare International Festival of the Arts, and a whole lot of events and they got to appreciate my talent from there up until this moment in time when they decided to hire me.

My experience and certification came in handy for me to get this job,” he said.

Mr Nleya has recorded with a lot of artistes doing varying genres in and around Zimbabwe, Africa and abroad.

Some of the African artistes that he has worked with include one of South Africa’s renowned bassist’s Bheka Mthethwa, the late Botswana great Le Kofi and Zambia’s Simon Muyambo among others.

“For long, the institution has been known to specialise in classic music but truth be told, we live in an ever-changing environment where we need to move with the times and incorporate contemporary genres into our art to stay relevant.

Unlike before, the market for classic music is dwindling.

“My experience with different music genres will benefit the institution to keep up with industry trends and broaden its clientele base.

To me, music is not just a profession, but a calling and it is my destiny to uphold the high standards at the Zimbabwe Academy of Music so as to help the institution achieve its goals,” said Mr Nleya.

If things went south with the music business, I’m sure Mr Nleya was going to be a fine artiste as a portrait of the legendary Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi which he personally drew hung upon his studio walls.

The former Art and Design student at Bulawayo Polytechnic enjoys “seeing art wherever I go.

That is also the reason why I enjoy live bands performing rather than a DJ on decks because I enjoy the authentic sound more than the digital one.”

One thing is for sure with Mr Nleya, he is a collector of everything music-related, be it vinyl, compact discs, cassettes and also memorabilia of art as he enjoys both worlds. He has a library where he keeps all of these for posterity.

The Loud Records Zimbabwe owner is not only a percussionist but also a self-taught pianist and record producer who has worked with the likes of Vusa Mkhaya, Willis Wataffi, Jeys Marabini, Msiz’kay and Sandra Ndebele, just to name a few.

He is also a session drummer who has worked with a band called Image Music which specialises in cover songs.

He is much of a “recording artiste rather than a performing artiste as most of the time he will be busy with other people’s projects and hardly finds time for himself.

One of his biggest challenges was, just like everyone else, the effects of Covid-19 which threw a cat among the pigeons for everyone with travel and live performance restrictions.

– @eMKlass_49