The late Stoney Mubiana to be recognised at the NAMA’s for his contribution to local music
Stoney Mubiana, who is considered to be one of Namibia’s music fathers and versatile musical architects at the stroke of independence, will be honoured with the Life Time Achiever’s Award at the Namibian Annual Music Awards (NAMA) 2019, on 7 September.
The NAMA Executive Committee in a statement said that Stoney Mubiana was Zambezi Region’s pride and musical powerhouse and remains one of the regions and arguably national celebrated artist to date as far as creativity and conscious music is the subject.
“The ‘Mama Wa Ka’ singer was a popular performer in the live music circuit with a rare talent at the time and was one of the first from the region to combine traditional music with modern instrumentation, blends of Kizomba and African beats,” the Commitee added.
According to the Commitee, with his musical weight at the time, he became renowned for publishing backing tracks for local adverts, and always ready to hit the music scene with his African rhythm and disco music.
“In a country like ours many cultural groups, you have to play a variety of music in order to satisfy the different tastes,” Stoney once said.
The Committee highlighted that Stoney, encouraged women to join the music industry, making one of the trailblazers who was determined to push Namibian music and grow the industry, which was still in its infant stage.
In 1990, he moved to Windhoek to study composition and music theory and also mastered the art of a keyboard, therefore later becoming the Senior Music Librarian at the NBC and a member of the Board of Directors for Namibia Society of Composer and Authors of Music (NASCAM). His contribution to the music industry was very instrumental and represents an invaluable mark that help ignite and set local music and talent on a growth route.
Stoney passed on in 2003.
