First published in The Herald on 26 March, 2014
Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou is a 90-year-old Ethiopian nun whose piano music is like none other: bluesy, spiritual and spacious, it’s music rooted in the unique traditions of Addis Ababa yet also timeless and placeless. For nearly three decades Emahoy has lived in a monastery in Jerusalem, where last year the Israeli musician Maya Dunietz helped her publish her compositions. Dunietz performs some of these composition at the closing concert of Counterlflows in what should be a rare insight into the music of an Ethiopian master. Glad Cafe, Sunday