{shortcode-0390be3742f26c5d35147169d77a59cebddefc80}

On Nov. 9, around 200 people packed into the Signet Society for the second annual Ethio-Jazz Soiree, hosted and organized by Harvard’s Eritrean and Ethiopian Students Association (EESA). Enlivened conversation among the crowd took pause for three musical performances, which featured both student and professional artists.

The soiree was dreamed up last year by former EESA president Arsema A. Aklog ’26 and carried out this year by current President Selam Anwar ’27, Vice President Feker A. Chane ’27, and Special Events Chair Sarah Y. Berhan ’28.

The popularity of this event is due, in part, to the intentional inclusivity of the organizers.

“We’re an open space,” Anwar said. “Anybody can come and join and see what our events are about.”

Through music, Anwar hopes that the audience will “see the beauty of our culture” and that attendees get to use the space to “learn and connect.” Members of the larger Boston area showed up for this very purpose, bringing together a range of undergraduate and graduate students and members of the broader community.

Onyinye E. Okonkwo ’27 kicked off the night with a rendition of “Amazing Grace” played on the alto saxophone. Okonkwo first learned how to play the saxophone in church with the encouragement of his mother and the inspiration of his friend, who “taught [him] the ropes.” Playing in front of this audience in particular felt “super special” to Okonkwo.

“There’s a depth of culture here that is so astounding,” he said.

The second performance of the night featured Bethlehem G. Melaku, a former professional musician and current CNA, and her son Samuel E. Shibabw, a sophomore at UMass Dartmouth. The pair played two songs, “Eyuat Sitinafikegn” by Tilahun Gessesse and Ethiopia Hagere by Messele Asmamaw and Tigaw Bellete. The performance featured traditional Eritrean and Ethiopian instruments: the Washint, an end blown flute, the Kirar, a five or six stringed lyre, and the Masinko, a single-stringed bowed lute.

When Melaku first moved from Ethiopia to the United States in 1997, she began touring, bringing her musical talent to weddings, restaurants, and stages around the country, including Harvard University. There, she befriended Kay Kaufman Shelemay, the G. Gordon Watts Professor of Music and Professor of African and African American Studies, who offered to “exchange Ethiopian culture and American culture.”

Melaku was “so excited” to be back at Harvard performing for so many of “[her] people.”

“It’s like being blessed, you know?” she said.

Anticipation was high leading up to the final act: Kidus N. Yohanness ’29, a Harvard student who has already also graced renowned stages such as The Kennedy Center. Yohanness played arrangements from two Ethiopian composers, Mulatu Astatke and Emahoy Tsige Mariam, on the piano.

While Yohanness has been playing the piano since he was nine, his interest in Ethio-Jazz sparked much later, specifically during his sophomore year of high school. Girma Yifrashewa was an early inspiration for Yohanness, who mixed Ethiopian music “elements with classical music.” From there, he started listening to other Ethio-Jazz artists, including Astatke.

Astatke is widely credited as a godfather of Ethiopian Jazz, fusing traditional Ethiopian scales with jazz influences like Duke Ellington. After studying at Berklee College of Music here in Boston, where he became the school’s first African student, Astatke was inspired to incorporate five-tone, pentatonic scales familiar to Ethiopian music with the chromatic scale, a building block of jazz.

The soiree was black tie themed, the audience dressed in an array of satin and suits. Light food and refreshments were provided throughout the evening. Awaze tibs, a sauteed spiced beef stew, and firfir, a spiced shredded flatbread dish, were both served on top of injera, a fermented flatbread. Tej, a traditional Eritrean and Ethiopian honey wine, was available along with non-alcoholic beverages.

Rheanna K. Robinson ’29, a student at MIT, heard about the event through a few of her Ethiopian friends, and made the trek across Cambridge to get to know “some new people” and “enjoy good music.” She was interested in learning more about Ethiopian culture, but was also excited to simply “experience Black joy.”

To some, the event was not only a social occasion, but also a chance for spiritual reflection.

“Seeing the way that God has brought me through so, so much to get to this moment right now, I’m grateful that he’s given me a gift to be able to share that with the world and give it — to speak of his grace and show his grace through my saxophone,” Okonkwo said.

It was also a chance for celebration; in a display of gratitude, current board members honored Aklog for her former tenure and lasting contributions to the organization. Anwar said that the soiree was one of Aklog’s “principal ideas,” which she worked to get off the ground during her time as president.

“This event is, honestly, as I was saying before, the kind of baby or the child that Arsema, our former president, came up with,” said Anwar.

The event was a hit last year, and so EESA wanted to continue the tradition.

Given this year’s turnout, the Ethio-Jazz soiree is well on its way to becoming an annual fixture in the campus arts scene.