Patrick Matsikenyiri (1)

MATSIKENYIRI, Patrick. b. Biriri, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), 27 July 1937; d. Mutare, Zimbabwe, 15 January 2021. Patrick Matsikenyiri’s career included virtually all aspects of church music—singing, choral directing, composition, hymnal editor, festival leader, professor, and enlivener of global songs in venues worldwide. In the spirit of a Shona proverb—‘If you can talk, you can sing. If you can walk, you can dance’—he believed music was for everyone.  After serving as a headmaster for primary schools for many years, Matsikenyiri was deeply involved with the leaders of Zimbabwe’s movement for black majority rule. A Methodist layman, he was an active contributor to United Methodist...