Togarirepi Chivaviro
| Togarepi Chivaviro | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Togarepi Tapera Chivaviro January 22, 1975 Gokwe |
| Nationality | Zimbabwean |
| Occupation |
|
| Spouse(s) | Juliet Chivaviro |
| Children | Munashe (daughter), Tinashe (son) |
Togarirepi Chivaviro is a Zimbabwean pastor and gospel musician based in South Africa. He is well known for his hit song Ebenezer which features a host of gospel artists such as Charles Charamba, Mechanic Manyeruke and Noel Zembe, Lawrence Haisa, Bethen Pasinawako and Kudzi Nyakudya among many others.
Background
Togarirepi Chivaviro was born Togarepi Tapera Chivaviro on 22 January 1975 in Gokwe. He married Juliet Chabata on August 7 1999 and together they have two children, a son Tinashe Chivaviro and a daughter Munashe Chivaviro.[1]
Education
Chivaviro went to Gwehava Primary School for his primary school education. While at Gwehava he was part of the school choir when he was grade 5. For his secondary school education he attended Moleli High School and became conducting assistant in the 1st year upon joining the school. Chivaviro then attended Ellis Robins School in the capital Harare for his high school education. While at Ellis Robbins he joined Mabelreign Methodist Church Choir in 1992 and became the assistant director in the same year. [1]
Career
Chivavariro joined the teaching field at Batanai Secondary school in 1995 , upon which he formed a choir that went on to achieve a 4th position in the Zimbabwe National High Schools competition the same year it was formed. In 1998 Chivaviro enrolled at the United Theological College in Epworth for a Theology Diploma.[1]He left Zimbabwe to pursue his PhD studies in December 2006 and settled in South Africa where he later founded his own church called Assemblies of Pentecostal Methodists.[2]
Music Career
He made a name for himself singing while he was a member of the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe. Chivaviro formed his band The Faith Ambassadors at the time he was studying for his theology degree. The band comprised of trainee pastors, Ossah Manyeza, Loveness Madzoke, Kundai Marimbire and Memory Chikosi.Barbra Mazanhi , Gamuchirayi Siyamsipa and Nomalanga Marimo. The late Andy Harder, Allen Dzobo, and Zivai Kamusasa provided instrumental backup.[1]
Discography
Albums
- Peace, Hope and Love (1999)
- Power (2000)
- Komborerai Africa (2002)
- Kuna Mwari Zvitaure — Hymnal Praise Volume 1 (2005)
- The Return (2009)
- Nguva Yakanakisa — Hymnal Praise Volume 2 (2010)
- To God Be The Glory – Hymnal Praise Volume 3 (2011)
- Ishe Taungana – Hymnal Worship Volume 4 (2013)
- Ebenezer — Tiri Munyasha (2014)
- Mhepo Inoperekedza & Tsitsi Dzake Ihuru (2016)
Awards
- won- Musica Peace Award for Music That Promotes Peace (for the song Runyararo from Komborerai Africa Album) shared with the late Ephat Mujuru and Alick Macheso.
- nominated- 2010 SABC Crown Gospel Awards in the Best Of Africa Category
- won- Song of the Year, Best Song Writer and Best Produced Album of the year Permican 2015 Awards
- At the end of the year his song Ebenezer was number 1 on a number of radio stations including; Star FM Gospel Greats top 50,YaFM Gospel top 50 and Mixed top 100.It also came 3rd on Coca Cola Radio Zimbabwe top 50 mixed and same position National FM top 50 mixed.
On Submitting Music For Awards
After losing the Song of the Year Award to Winky D at the Zimbabwe Music Awards in 2015, Chivaviro declared that he would not be submitting music for consideration in any awards show. Winky D’s song Disappear, fell out of the required cut-off date for consideration but still won the award. As a result Chivaviro believed that God was communicating somethign to him as this was not the first time he had lost to a song that did not fit the criteria. In an interview with the Chronicle, Chivaviro said,
I think God is saying something to us about this award thing because the same happened at NAMA. Our music should just be for spreading the gospel to all nations and our satisfaction should come when people get touched by our music, hearts uplifted, souls healed etc. I’m sure we’ll not be entering these things again, we’ve since asked our manager not to enter us for awards in future. God’s saying our main calling is not for music that wins awards but for music that touches and transforms lives. We thank God for the reception we got for our song which touched from the little 2-year-olds to the President of the nation.
Chivariro went on to explain that the decision was not reached based on bitterness or jealousy as he was still on talking terms with Mathias Mhere despite especially losing out to him in the Traditional Gospel Music category,
Mathias is a young brother to me and we’ve been chatting even this morning about my launch on Wednesday which he’s attending. I even congratulated him on winning.
Zima spokesperson, Farai Chapoterera conceded to the anomaly saying they included Winky D’s song because they knew that the public was not going to understand if Disappear was not included in that category.[3]
Videos
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 About REV T T CHIVAVIRO, Facebook, published: No Date Given, retrieved: July 28, 2016
- ↑ Jairos Saunyama, Up and close with Rev Chivaviro, NewsDay, published: June 24, 2015, retrieved: July 28, 2016
- ↑ We’ll not enter awards again :Rev Chivaviro, Chronicle, published: March 2, 2016, retrieved: July 28, 2016
