Victor Kunonga

Musician Victor Kunonga
Born	Victor Kunonga (1974-10-25) October 25, 1974 (age 50)
Nationality	Zimbabwe
Education	Hugh Beadle Primary School, Northlea High School, Zimbabwe College of Music
Alma mater	Zimbabwe College of Music
Occupation	Musician.
Years active	2003 to present
Home town	Shurugwi, Midlands Province
Spouse(s)	Olga Kunonga

Victor Kunonga is a Zimbabwean award-winning afro-jazz singer and songwriter who rose to prominence in 2004, after releasing his debut album Such Is Life. Kunonga, who taught himself the acoustic guitar quickly became a household name with his second album, Uyo that won him a Zimbabwe Music Awards (ZIMA) award in 2006.

Background

Kunonga was born on 25 October 1974 in Shurugwi. He is the eldest and only son in a family of four. He grew up in Bulawayo. He is married to Olga and they have a son together. Olga, who runs a crèche supports her husband.^[1]

Music career

Kunonga started singing when he was in the 6th grade at Hugh Beadle Primary School in Bulawayo. He pruned his passion for music during his secondary school days by joining, playing and later captaining the Marimba Band at Northlea High School in Bulawayo. In 1999, he failed to enroll at the college of music in Bulawayo because he did not have at least one instrument, which was a requirement for enrollment.^[2] He had earlier in 1997 started writing songs in which he kept and constantly polished as he prepared to launch his first album. In 2001, Victor began to attend music workshops at the Zimbabwe College of Music in Harare where he first handled a guitar and learned how to play the strings for the first time. He then went to release his debut album Such is life in 2003 which had six tracks. Greatly inspired by Oliver Mtukudzi, Thomas Mapfumo and Chiwoniso Maraire, his sound is a mixture of traditional rhythms of the African drum including mbira and marimba.In December 2014, he launched his fourth album at Alliance Francaise and the event was graced by Hugh Masekela.^[3]