On autumn days, Tanaka Chikati '25 often brings her picnic blanket and journal to Bema, a grassy amphitheater on the eastern edge of campus. "There, I spread out my blanket, listen to Mbira DzeNharira's music, and just write," Tanaka shares. The musical ensemble, which is from Zimbabwe, is known for its arrangements that use the sound of the mbira, a family of African instruments traditional to the Shona people.
An African musician herself, Tanaka became interested in the study of music during her upbringing in Zimbabwe. "African culture has gone through many periods of erasure. I've always been very curious about and drawn to those parts that we lost," she says. "Many students learn to play mbira in primary school, but later drop it because they don't find meaning or purpose in it anymore."
And so, last spring, Tanaka applied for a grant from the Department of Music's Erich Kunzel Class of 1957 Fund, which helps undergraduates fund musical research, projects, and performances. The grant made it possible for her to travel home to study mbira music and traditional dance with Zimbabwean musician Irene Chigamba. "Learning to play mbira from someone of my culture—that was just beautiful," Tanaka says.
Now, Tanaka performs the mbira and the marimba—a percussion instrument similar to a xylophone—in Dartmouth's Coast Jazz Ensemble. Last year, Google Arts and Culture featured her solo mbira recordings in a multimedia show representing work of African women artists. "That helped put mbira music on a big map," Tanaka recalls, adding that the support of the music department has made her even more eager to integrate her knowledge of traditional Zimbabwean music into her studies. She counts Assistant Professor of Music César Alvarez among her most impactful mentors. "César," she says, "helped me to think deeply about how I can grow as an artist."
Outside the classroom, Tanaka is a member of the Dartmouth African Students Association and serves as one of Dartmouth's Undergraduate Advisors, student mentors who support their peers' intellectual, cultural, and social development in residential settings. "I'm a person who wants to help others through change," she says, "and, in particular, I want to help other African students in their transition to life at the College. I strive to make community for other people."
The community she's forged at Dartmouth is just the start. Tanaka hopes to one day open a school in Africa for students who are gifted in the arts, a goal that Professor Alvarez has encouraged her to see as within her reach. But her first priority, she says, is to build on her musical transformation that has taken root at Dartmouth, adding: "I'm here first and foremost to grow as Tanaka, as an artist."
Photograph by Don Hamerman
