Gweru gospel musician hails new radio station

Standard Style
Gweru-based gospel musician, Tinomutenda Chihora says the coming on board of a new radio station in the city will help bring to the fore artistic talent in Gweru and surrounding areas.

Gweru-based gospel musician, Tinomutenda Chihora says the coming on board of a new radio station in the city will help bring to the fore artistic talent in Gweru and surrounding areas.

By Staff Reporter

Tinomutenda Chihora
Tinomutenda Chihora

Chihora, who recently released an eight-track DVD off his album, The Holy WiFi, told The Standard Style that artists from the Midlands were playing second fiddle to their counterparts in Harare and Bulawayo who had been priviledged to have radio stations in their towns.

He said the new radio station — 98.4 Midlands — was long overdue as artists from outside Harare and Bulawayo had been receiving a wooden spoon from national radio stations.

The AB Communications-owned radio station is among a handful of eight licensed radio stations by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe that went live in the country in recent days.

“We gladly welcome the coming in of 98.4 Midlands radio station in Gweru. This is good since talent from the Midlands as well as the developmental projects and concerns will now be aired,” Chihora said.

For the past six months, 98.4 Midlands has been on auto broadcast, churning out non-stop music but two weeks ago it went live on air.

“We say welcome to the Midlands, especially to the City of Progress. As one of the gospel musicians in the city, I hope we will get a fair share of the air waves,” he said.

“The coming of the radio will go a long way in marketing artistic talent as well as to offer some quality control, especially to music producers.”

The radio station will focus on news, talk shows and music, mainly covering issues to do with Gweru and surrounding areas.

Chihora trained as a teacher at Nyadire Teachers College in Mutoko before he obtained a diploma in Music from the Midlands Academy of Music. He also holds a Bachelor of Science, Music and Musicology honours degree.