With contributions from Samrawit Tesfaye
Saron is a 12 years old Canadian girl of Ethiopian parents and fluently speaks Amharic, English and French. The summer of last year, she visited Ethiopia with her parents and her young brother.
That was the time Saron fulfilled her curiosity to learn the ancient Ethiopian instrument, Begena, a 10 string traditional harp, mostly used for religious songs within the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo church. Saron started playing it after taking only an 11 days lesson. A one to one lesson instructed by Besufekad Abiy proved the young Canadian Saron’s patience, focus, determination and enthusiasm.
Her mother, Rebecca who is a Toronto resident said her daughter’s dedication to learn her culture helped her play the instrument well in a short time. “She was practicing day and night to quickly pick up the instrument” says Rebecca.
“Salamta” is the first out of the three traditional major melodies of Begana that she played well. She showed exceptional skills at tuning the instrument, which is the most difficult part as it needed constant tuning.
Saron doesn’t seem to have enough of her culture and heritage. Currently, she is teaching herself the l “Geeze”, language online via YouTube . “Geeze’ is a very unique and ancient language.
Before the COVID-19 lock down, on the last day of church service, Saron impressed the church crowd by her live performance.
She continues to practice and now learn her second melody amid her busy e-learning schedule during this time.
Begena songs are very popular during the Easter fasting season of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church.
