Samite: Resilience
Saturday, November 23 @ 1PM | Donna M. Morris Theater
Saturday, November 23 @ 7PM | Donna M. Morris Theater
Beautiful, powerful, personal and musical - “Resilience” is a play with the urgency of now combined with timeless stories of healing.
Internationally recognized musician, humanitarian, and artists Samite tells his life’s story in this multi-media one-man play. He tells the story of his emergence from the nightmare of life under Amin and Milton Obote ("... when the birds stopped singing") to being a healer through the power of music.
Samite often includes a story or two in his concerts, but now he has turned his entire presentation inside out and the result is raw and bracing. In honor of Resilience Month, both performances of this show include an extended post-performance Q&A for authentic audience connection.
"Rhythmic beats, floating melodies and impactful lyrics are the main components needed to create African music. These are also the elements Ugandan musician Samite Mulondo uses to spread hope, healing and peace around the world." - Grand Valley Lanthorn
"Resilience is about blending beautiful traditional African music with stories of hope and tolerance. Sharing difficult topics, Samite opened the doors for the us to gain new knowledge and empathy with grace and sensitivity. Music definitely heals - A must see!" - Karen Wacks, (LMHC, M.Ed., MT-BC) Professor of Music Therapy, Berklee College of Music
ABOUT THE ARTIST
The world-renowned musician Samite was born and raised in Uganda, where his grandfather taught him to play the traditional flute.
When he was twelve, a music teacher placed a western flute in his hands setting him on his way to becoming one of East Africa's most acclaimed flutists. He performed frequently to enthusiastic audiences throughout Uganda until 1982, when he was forced to flee to Kenya as a political refugee. Samite immigrated to the United States in 1987, and now he and his wife Sandra make their home on their small horse farm in upstate New York.
When he is not touring, Samite finds inspiration from their horses, Shadow and Thyme, photography and woodworking. Today his smooth vocals accompanied by the kalimba, marimba, litungu, and various flutes mesmerize audiences throughout the world.
Samite has released eleven CDs internationally and in 2009, the film Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, which features his original score, debuted nationally on PBS. Samite released My Music World, in 2010 and, as he states, the album captures more of who he is than any of his previous albums. "It represents influences from all the places I have been, from my childhood in Uganda, and my life in Kenya as a refugee, to my current travels in Africa with my work for Musicians for World Harmony. I am always inspired by my surroundings– my childhood hikes into the forest, my teenage years in Kampala, and my visits to refugee camps and orphanages." In 2012, Samite composed the soundtrack for the film Addiction Incorporated and his ninth CD, Trust {Inspired by the soundtrack for the film "Addiction Incorporated"} was released in that year. Samite has recently released his tenth CD, "Another Side of Me" (available on this website) and he is currently working on another CD to be released later this year.
Samite is the subject of the documentary, Song of the Refugee, distributed by PBS in 1998. It was while filming this that Samite's work as a humanitarian began. In 2002, he founded Musicians for World Harmony, an organization dedicated to enabling musicians throughout the world to share their music to promote peace, understanding, and harmony among people. In that capacity he travels to sing, play music, and exchange stories with victims of war, poverty and HIV/AIDS. He has traveled extensively the war-torn and distressed countries of Uganda, Kenya, Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, Latvia, Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire to work in refugee camps, with former child soldiers and AIDS orphans.
In his role as Founding Director of Musicians for World Harmony, Samite is fortunate to bring his message of peace to a wide audience. He performed his arrangement of the traditional Baganda song, Ani Oyo for The Dalai Lama in 2007 during Bridging Worlds with His Holiness The Dalia Lama in Ithaca, NY. In 2009 he performed at "Connecting For Change," part of the 2009 Vancouver Peace Summit: Nobel Laureates in Dialogue, hosted by the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education.
In the fall of 2011, Samite performed and spoke at the UNHCR 60th Anniversary Celebration in New York City. More recently Samite collaborated with the filmmakers of “Alive Inside,” an award-winning documentary on the power of music to awaken the memories locked away in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. This film and Samite’s subsequent place on Dr. Bill Thomas’ 2014 “Second Wind Tour,” have cemented the natural progression of the work that Samite does with Musicians for World Harmony. This direction, of an increased focus on working with seniors and dementia patients, evolved into a collaboration between MWH and Dr. Bill Thomas for his “Age of Disruption Tour” in 2016 and 2017. Samite and Musicians for World Harmony continue to bring the healing power of music into communities in upstate New York and around the country- working with young and old alike.
In the Spring of 2018, Samite finished recording his eleventh CD, Resilience -and it was released on September 14, 2018. He also completed two years of work with directors at Saint Joseph University on the theatrical performance of the same name which had its World Premiere on March 23, 2018 in Hartford, CT. Samite is now touring Lessons of Humanity and Resilience, his one-man theater performances and his compelling show, The Story of Mutoto, in which he connects the stories of his childhood in Uganda to his trips to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in western Uganda and the plight of the endangered Silverback Mountain Gorillas.
