Bulawayo Music Festival Message
By Senator David Coltart
19 May 2010
As Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, I am delighted to write a few words about the Bulawayo Music Festival. It takes place at the Academy of Music located in my home city and constituency. Over the years I have spent many happy hours there, enjoying music and listening to performers from many parts of the world.
The Academy and Performing Arts Bulawayo are certainly at present providing Education, Art and Culture in large measure with their programmes of live music, operas, ballets and concerts on DVD, talks, workshops and more – nearly 130 events in 2009, as many promised in 2010. Sport may not feature on its curriculum but the energy needed to keep up with its many activities perhaps requires the fitness of a sportsman! And now there is a festival promising close to twelve hours of music a day. This would not have been possible without funding, some of which comes from the concerts held in London a year ago and more from local companies, businesses and organisations.
I am confident that this support comes in large part because those generous donors know their money will be wisely spent to ensure that music can continue to flourish in Bulawayo under the enthusiasm and guidance of Michael Bullivant and his team. The human spirit is a complex and profound entity which is unique in this world in its love and appreciation of art and music. Somehow the Biblical adage that “man does not live by bread alone” has a special resonance when we find ourselves in a harsh and challenging situation. Zimbabwe seems to be in a state of constant crisis. The economic collapse and the consequent flight of millions of Zimbabweans to greener pastures made it very difficult to maintain activities that are not essential to our daily lives even if they are vital to our spirit. But in these times of hardship and shortages, it is all the more important that we should not lose sight of the fact that music and the other arts can transport us into another world and bring us escape and relief from the difficulties of daily life. The determination of  those organising the Bulawayo Music Festival to keep the human sprit nourished is therefore all the more praiseworthy.
The Government of Zimbabwe is deeply grateful to them and wishes it could do more to support their activities. I am very appreciative of the generosity of the musicians appearing in this seventh festival, many of whom have visited Bulawayo before, some several times and one on at least twelve separate occasions in the last sixteen years – and always for very modest fees! I am sure, too, that they will all offer to return again and, without their generosity, there could be no Bulawayo Music Festival. I trust that this year’s Festival will be all that everyone wishes it to be and that it will bring great joy and pleasure to those who attend it. And I salute those whose endeavours keep music alive and flourishing in Bulawayo.