Black History Month Concert Series presents Ruth Mathiang & Waleed Abdulhamid

Music Africa and the Gladstone Hotel present yet another concert series featuring some of the African best talent in Toronto and the diaspora. Tonight we welcome Ruth Mathiang & Waleed Abdulhamid.

Waleed Abdulhamid and Ruth Mathiang are both from Sudan. They sing in Arabic, Nuer, and Kiswahili. Ruth Mathiang comes from a musical family, where both her parents were musicians in their youth. In Kenya, she performed with local musicians, in styles ranging from traditional music to hip hop. Her dream of having her own CD came true when she immigrated to Canadato attend the University of PEI and in 2002 released her first CD My Cry, Peace, a collection of gospel/peace songs. In 2005-2006, she recorded her second album Butterfly, a mixture of her favourite styles of music, from hip-hop, reggae, afrobeat, to gospel. It received great praise, reviewers invariably noting Mathiang’s soaring voice, her great versatility and her ability to find intimacy even in songs intended for huge crowds. “I believe freedom is in the heart and when we let love in, freedom awaits our invitation. I sing and write about the struggle of the human heart to open and let freedom shine,” she says.

Join us for other dates in the concert series:
February 1 – Donné Roberts
February 15 – Jabulani
February 22 – Njacko Backo CD release party