Popular Ethiopian music composer and nun has died in Jerusalem where she had lived reclusively in an Ethiopian monastery for nearly 40 years.
Often referred to as “the piano queen”, who was ordained as a nun at 21 and was among Ethiopia’s first classical pianists. Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou died at 99.
Moving to a monastery in Ethiopia’s Wello province after the government denied her application to study music in London, her first record was released in the mid-1960s when Ethiopia had a booming jazz and classical music scene.
Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou achieved global recognition in 2006 when her music featured in albums of Ethiopian music from previous decades.
Among her popular compositions are ‘Mother’s Love’, ‘The Song of the Sea’, ‘The Homeless’, and ‘The Mad Man’s Laughter’. Her composition titled ‘Jerusalem’ is due for release on April 14, this year.