Music Time in Africa - MTIA

Music Time in Africa - MTIA Music Time in Africa is a music radio program on the Voice of America Music Time in Africa is VOA's longest running radio broadcast to the African continent.

Launched in 1965 in Monrovia, Liberia by Leo Sarkisian, the show is currently hosted by Heather Maxwell. Music Time in Africa features Africa's finest music, weekly artist interviews and music news. Heather Maxwell is an Africanist ethnomusicologist and musical artist who has lived and performed extensively throughout Africa for over 30 years.

07/11/2025

Hi Everyone,
I hope you're doing well. I want to share a quick personal update:
As of September 30th I'll be stepping down from my role as Host and Producer of Music Time in Africa at Voice of America. After that date this FB Page will no longer be active.

But this is just the beginning of an exciting new chapter! I'm now focusing full-time on some new creative projects in the music space - including a podcast, TV content and other exciting collaborations. I'd love to have you along for the journey.

You can stay connected and follow my latest work here: heather-maxwell.com

Also - I'd really love your input! I'm putting together topics for the podcast and other content and it would mean a lot ot hear what YOU would love to see and hear from me moving forward. You can share your ideas on my website via email, FB or Instagram.

Thank you all so much for you support and contributions to this storied program Music Time in Africa - I truly appreciate it. It was on the air for 60 years! I hope we stay in touch.

Warmly,
Heather

What a pleasure to be with Mongezi Ntaka 🇿🇦again this year on VOA Africa . Lorraine Klaasen🇿🇦 and he have created a bea...
12/16/2024

What a pleasure to be with Mongezi Ntaka 🇿🇦again this year on VOA Africa . Lorraine Klaasen🇿🇦 and he have created a beauty 🎶

Mongezi Ntaka, an award-winning South African musician recently worked with his countrywoman, Lorraine Klaasen, the daughter to Thandi Klaasen, an iconic Afr...

500 Episodes of Heather Maxwell's Music Time in Afria🔥. Tune in below to listen 🎧
12/02/2024

500 Episodes of Heather Maxwell's Music Time in Afria🔥. Tune in below to listen 🎧

Heather Maxwell celebrates her 500th episode of Music Time in Africa with shout outs from listeners around the world and a fresh playlist of pan African music. The back half features a mashup of archival interviews and live music including Oliver Mutukudzi, Jomion and the Uklos, Fancy Gadam, Tiharea...

Catch my latest radio show of Great Jamz 🎧🎸 ➕ hornsphere our of Nairobi 🇰🇪 with Bill Odidi
11/29/2024

Catch my latest radio show of Great Jamz 🎧🎸 ➕ hornsphere our of Nairobi 🇰🇪 with Bill Odidi

Listen to Heather's playlist of great African jamz from 2010-2020 plus a lively, studio interview in Nairobi with music journalist Bill Odidi and 3 members of the horns quartet Hornsphere. They talk about their recently released album Fomation and perform live.

Catch my radio show with 🇹🇬 and much more awesome music here:
11/26/2024

Catch my radio show with 🇹🇬 and much more awesome music here:

After 30 minutes of Heather Maxwell's pan-African music playlist, she sits with American/Togolese singer, songwriter and bandleader Dogo du Togo to talk about his new album Avoudé that dropped November 8th. In an upbeat vibe, they listen to select tracks from the album.

Quincy Jones died on Sunday at the age of 91. Here are nine facts about Jones -Nov 4 (Reuters) * Jones' work reached t...
11/04/2024

Quincy Jones died on Sunday at the age of 91. Here are nine facts about Jones -Nov 4 (Reuters)

* Jones' work reached the moon. He said Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon on the Apollo 11 lunar mission in 1969, told him that he played Frank Sinatra's 1964 Jones-produced recording of "Fly Me to the Moon" before setting out on the lunar surface.

* In addition to scoring more than 30 movies, Jones composed the theme songs for the television shows "Sanford and Son," "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "Ironsides."

* Jones lived in Paris in the 1950s, studying music theory and composition with Nadia Boulanger, who also taught Aaron Copland, Philip Glass and Virgil Thomson.

* Sinatra not only gave Jones the nickname "Q," he left instructions that after his death, Jones be given his ring bearing the Sinatra family crest from Sicily.

* Jones attended his own memorial service in 1974. He suffered a brain aneurysm that year and wrote in his autobiography that doctors gave him only a 1% chance of surviving surgery. Pessimistic friends went ahead and arranged a service for him but within a month Jones had recovered so well that he attended the service, which featured music by Marvin Gaye, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles and Cannonball Adderley.

* In 1986 Jones said he suffered a mental breakdown as he was in the midst of a divorce from actress Peggy Lipton. He went to Marlon Brando's private island in Tahiti for a month to recover.

* Jones referred to Michael Jackson as "Smelly" during their collaborations but it had nothing to do with odor. When he was working with Jones, Jackson avoided saying curse words and would use "smelly" as an alternative.

* In 2013 Jones filed suit against Jackson's estate seeking millions of dollars in royalties for music that was used after the singer's death in a documentary and a Cirque du Soleil show. In 2017, a jury awarded Jones $9.42 million.

* Rapper Tupac Shakur once upbraided Jones in a magazine interview for his relationships with white women, including his three wives. Shakur later dated Jones' daughter Kadida and was engaged to her at the time of his death in 1996.

REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

10/24/2024

Girls get a piano! The Pharo School in Homosha, Ethiopia inaugurate arrival of piano with performance by pianist composer Girma Yifrashewa Pharo Foundation

Dilon Djindji passed away in the early hours of this Wednesday, at the Maputo Central Hospital, Mozambique. We remember ...
09/19/2024

Dilon Djindji passed away in the early hours of this Wednesday, at the Maputo Central Hospital, Mozambique. We remember him this Friday on Africa 54 TV VOA Africa and Music Time in Africa this Sunday. https://youtu.be/GfFJhbqKc5Q?si=utzHT8_01DEUBrZ7

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