World-renowned musician Samite brings his message of peace, hope and healing to Scottsdale with a one-night-only performance on Friday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m., in the Virginia G. Piper Theater at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.
A familiar performer to audiences around the world, Samite began playing the flute to pass the time when he was a boy in Uganda. Later, he learned to play other instruments, such as the saxophone, and his passion for the power of music has never waned. Currently, his shows feature traditional African music played on the kalimba (thumb piano), litungu (seven-stringed lyre) and endere (flute).
The challenges Samite faced as a political refugee when he was forced to flee to Kenya in 1982 taught him how to use the power of music to unite and inspire. He immigrated to the United States in 1987 and now lives in upstate New York with his wife on a small horse farm.
He has released nine studio albums and he and his music are featured in several documentaries, including Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory, which showcases the power of music to help stir memories of people who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. His devotion to music and spreading peace also led him in 2002 to form Musicians for World Harmony, a nonprofit organization dedicated to music therapy.
“While performing, I see that people are able to forget their differences and join as one in the moment; my hope is for that moment to last,” Samite notes on his website. “If we can make that moment last, the world will be a better place.”
Samite’s performance at the Center is a part of the Memory Lounge series at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, where he will be the special guest artist for the first event in the series on Oct. 5. Alive Inside will be shown on Sunday, Oct. 1, at 2 p.m., for free, in Stage 2. The film follows social worker Dan Cohen as he fights against a broken healthcare system and tries to demonstrate music’s ability to combat memory loss and restore a sense of self to those with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Tickets: $48 (M $41) / $39/ $29. Free for eligible veterans, students and teachers. Patrons 29 and under, 50 percent off.
