The Atse Tewodros Project is an initiative, coordinated by writer and performer Gabriella Ghermandi, that forges musical collaborations between Ethiopian and Italian musicians. This project takes as its symbol Emperor Tewodros, a man who was not of imperial lineage, but still managed to gain the throne through willpower and charisma, breaking with centuries of custom. He was the first Emperor who gave Ethiopia the chance to modernize while respecting its traditions. In a similar way, the Atse Tewodros Project intends to respect traditional Ethiopian music while opening it up to dialogue and exchange.
The music composed and performed in the frame of the project is published in a CD initially self-produced with the title “Atse Tewodros Project” on 2013, and then published on May 2016 by Arc Music with the title Ethiopia celebrating Emperor Tewodros II.
This project was realized in part with donations from the following associations:
and in part through a crowdfunding drive on the “Produzioni dal basso” platform. We would like to thank the individual contributors who made it possible by purchasing shares.
Moreover, we would like to thank Cinemovel Foundation, In Cammino per le Famiglie, Pensamentus, Il fiore del Gojjam, Metis Africa Verona, Paolo Bartella Farnetti and Annalisa Cipriani for their precious financial support, Alessandro Ruggera and Istituto Italiano di Cultura of Addis Abeba for the logistics and for hosting our first concert.
We would also like to thank Fabio Orsini, Rossella Giovannelli, Arcangela Cicolecchia, Melaku Belay, Angelo Pantaleo, Mesa Ameme, Grazietta Demaria, Roberto Laghi, Salvatore Morelli, Diego Malara, Fabio Artoni, Andrea Semplici, Wu Ming 2, Adriano Marzi, Marco Boccitto, Guido Barbieri, Sara Milanese.
Special thanks to Alberto and Mahlet Maurizi.