Who I Am
Nyttu Chongo was born in Maputo, Mozambique but grew up raising livestock in the rural province of Gaza. As a young boy he played a variety of traditional Mozambican instruments for his own enjoyment while in the fields with his cattle and goats, and soon realized that he had to heed the call of his ancestors and pursue music directly. The civil war that decimated the country during his formative years and his family’s disapproval of his pursuit of the arts were barriers to his artistic development but also became his inspiration. Even after being forced to leave his rural community during the war, he continued to develop techniques in building, repairing, and playing instruments such as Xipendani, Xitende, Xizambe, Mbira Dzava Dzira, Dju Dju, Timbila, Bombo, Ligoma, Hudo, Xocalhos, Djembe, and Pwangue.
A lover of Mozambican traditional music of all kinds, Nyttu seeks to honor the rhythms and melodies that he grew up hearing in the fields and around the campfire. Focusing on the Mbira (thumb piano), Chopi Timbila (a traditional xylophone that was placed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2005), and the Rwandan Inanga (traditional harp), he connects past and present to place and time using his life experiences and the Changana language as his guides.
Nyttu Chongo is a 2024 Knight Foundation grantee, supporting his performance of original works in the show Phulani on the Ordway Concert Hall stage on July 26, 2024. Chongo has also received Minnesota State Arts Board Creative Individuals funds to support his Ancestral Connections project in 2024 and 2025. He has taught music through the MPR Class Notes program for four school years (2021-2024, and 2025-2026).
Nyttu Chongo was a Global Music Initiative Artist in Residence Fellow at MacPhail Center for Music, 2022, a Cedar Commissions Fellow for the 2021-22 season, and a 2020 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grantee. The Artist Initiative grant program is designed to support and assist professional Minnesota artists at various stages in their careers by encouraging artistic development, nurturing artistic creativity, and recognizing the contributions of individual artists to the creative environment of the state of Minnesota. Grants are awarded for projects that will enhance or expand artistic skills or process, and advance an artist’s career by helping them generate greater visibility with and exposure to potential audiences. With this grant, Nyttu Chongo produced his debut album titled Libandzuwa: The Power of the Sun. Read more here.
Nyttu Chongo was nominated and accepted into the Recording Academy’s 2022 Bold New Generation of voting members.
Instruments
Mbira Dzava Dzimu
The mbira is one of the oldest instruments of Africa, found all over the continent in a variety of tunings and with anywhere from five to fifteen keys. This beautiful instrument sounds like a music box and speaks to the spirit.
inanga
This instrument from central Africa—Rwanda—that was used to wrap the king in sleep now wraps my spirit in peace and love for others.
Xitende
This instrument runs in my veins: my grandfather, whose name I carry, played it, and I have played it since childhood. It’s a unique “string” instrument that is played using the whole body. It is an instrument of warriors that breaks conventional boundaries of music.
Mbira Nyunga Nyunga
The Nyunga Nyunga Mbira is a traditional instrument from the Nyungwe people of the central province of Tete, Mozambique. The keys were originally made of bamboo, but were eventually replaced by metal. I have been playing this kind of Mbira since 2010.
Xipendani
The sound of the Xipendani brings me back to the Limpopo valley. The sound that this single-stringed harp makes is reminiscent of the wind passing through tall grass.
Kora
The Kora is a stringed instrument used extensively in West Africa. A kora typically has 21 strings, which are played by plucking with the fingers. It has its own features that are similar to both a lute and harp. I have been playing the kora since 2021.
Timbila
This traditional xylophone is the national treasure of the Chopi people from the southern part of the province of Inhambane, Mozambique. Timbila are finely crafted by hand from the highly resonant wood of the slow-growing mwenje (sneezewort) tree over a process that takes years. Under each wooden slat sits a resonator made out of calabashes —tightly sealed with beeswax and tempered with the oil of the nkuso fruit—resulting in a strong vibration and rich nasal sound unique to this instrument. The orchestras are composed of anywhere from five to thirty timbila masters and apprentices of all age groups, with children often playing alongside their grandfathers. This stunning instrument was officially placed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2005.
2020-2021
MN State Arts Board Creative Initiative Fellow
2021-2022
Cedar Commissions Artist
2022
MacPhail Global Music Initiative Artist-in Residence
2024
Knight Foundation Cultural Opportunity Fund Recipient
2021-2026
YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio Class Notes Artist in Residence
2024
MN State Arts Board Creative Individuals Grant
Contact Me
Let’s heal and connect people through sound, reminding each other of our shared rhythm, roots, and soul.