Aster Aweke

This article contains a patronymic name. This person is addressed by her given name, Aster, and not as Aweke (the original or modified given name of her father).
Aster Aweke
አስቴር አወቀ

Aster Aweke performing at a 2012 concert in Melbourne, Australia.
Background information
Born 1959
Origin Gondar, Ethiopia
Genres Ethiopian music
Instruments vocals
Years active 1970s–present
Labels Buda Musique
Columbia/SME Records

Aster Aweke (Amharic: አስቴር አወቀ?, ʾAster ʾAwäḳä) is an Ethiopian singer living in the United States.[1]

Personal life

Aster was born in 1959 in Gondar, Ethiopia. She was raised in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Her father was a senior civil servant in the Imperial government.

Musical career

By the age of 13, Aster was determined to become a musician, and began her career at Hager Fikir Theatre in Addis Ababa.

Starting in her late teens, she was performing in clubs and hotels in the capital with bands such as the Continental Band, Hotel D'Afrique Band, Shebele Band and Ibex Band, before they became the internationally known as Roha Band.

Aster's distinct style has been influenced by other Ethiopian singers, such as Bizunesh Bekele.

Launching a solo career, she was encouraged by musical entrepreneur Ali Tango, who financed and released five cassettes and two singles of her music. By 1981, Aster had become disillusioned by Ethiopia's oppressive political climate following the death of Haile Selassie, and relocated to the United States. Temporarily settling in the Bay Area of California, with plans to pursue higher education within a period of two years, she settled in Washington, D.C., where one of the largest Ethiopian expat communities in the country existed. There, she became increasingly popular within the Ethiopian community, performing in restaurants and clubs.

Aster also remains popular in Ethiopia. In 1997, she performed in Addis Ababa for a crowd of over 50,000 people. In 2003, Aster also performed a two-part concert series to raise funds for relief and school initiatives in Ethiopia. The first concert was held in November on Eid Al-Fitr day at the Addis Ababa Stadium, with an audience of 40,000 in attendance. The second performance was a gala-dinner at the Sheraton Hotel.[2] More recently, on May 9, 2009, Aster performed in front of a crowd of 10,000 spectators during the Peace Through Unity, Unity Through Music concert held in the capital's Millennium Hall, alongside other Ethiopian music artists.

Discography

Albums
Contributing artist

Featuring

Business

Aster Aweke joined the business sector by opening a cafeteria called Kabu which is named after her popular song Kabu. [6]

References

  1. ↑ "Aster Aweke". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  2. ↑ "Africa: Aster Aweke Sings for the People Against Hunger". All Africa. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  3. ↑ "Aster Aweke". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  4. ↑ "Aster Aweke". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  5. ↑ "PRESS RELEASE-YEGNA RELEASES NEW MUSIC VIDEO FEATURING ASTER AWEKE". debirhan.com.
  6. ↑ "Ethiopian celebrity expanding into coffee export". capitalethiopia.com.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.