The first time Mohamed Matona and Anne Hytta played together was at the Førde Festival in Norway back in 2007. Anne Hytta is among the foremost performers of the Hardanger violin, a special fiddle with sympathetic strings and its own repertoire of traditional tunes.

In 2006 she won the Norwegian Folk Music Award for the best solo album. Matona on the other hand is a Taarab multi-instrumentalist and menber of the oldest Taarab Orchestra Nadi Ikhwani Safaa Musical Club and of DCMA’s Baladna. He is also one of the founding members of the DCMA, where he also works as a full-time teacher for various instruments and projects.

On 19 February 2008 these two musicians teamed-up once again for a fascinating concert of tradtional Zanzibari and Norwegian folk, fusion and exploration at DCMA Zanzibar. During the week, Anne Hytta also gave a workshop on the Hardanger violin to students as well as teachers from DCMA.

Many thanks to the Norwegian Embassy in Tanzania for making this possible.