Vmsix

About Vmsix
Windhoek, Namibia
Vocal Motion Six (Vm6) is a 5-person male Acappella and Classical group taking Namibia by storm with their exceptional blending harmonies. The members, Vasco, Thomas, Jones, Mark and Peter, represent the Mario and the Chizyuka families and began singing together in February 1999.

The Formation of VMSixThe year was 1999 in the small town of Rundu 700 kilometers from Namibia’s capital city Windhoek in the North-eastern part of Namibia called the Kavango region. Cousins Thomas Mario and Jones Mario lived together and were both in 9th grade at Rundu Secondary School. Vasco, big brother to Jones and Thomas’s cousin was doing his last grade at Maria-Mwengere Secondary School, about 17 Kilometers away from Rundu. Vasco and Thomas used to play guitar in a band and with Jones, they all belonged to the youth and church choirs and as well used to sing with their families

Brothers Peter and Mark Chizyuka, grew up and went to school in Zambia. They both sang in an Acappella group called ABX and several other singing groups. Peter was the youngest chaplin for the church choir and the music director for the youth choir in Zambia. In 1998, after completing secondary school, Peter and Mark decided to join the rest of the family in Rundu. In February 1999, one Saturday morning, the whole family with Peter and Mark sang at church and everybody in the congregation was excited. Later that same afternoon, the Mario sisters together with Jones and Thomas approached Peter and Mark and introduced themselves. Vasco was not in town. They tried to harmonize some common tunes that same afternoon. Little did they know that their meeting was the beginning of a long term relationship and great things to come

The Chizyuka family lived 30 kilometers away from Rundu at Shambyu mission in Utokota. Despite the 60 km they had to cover everyday to town and back, they rehearsed together everyday that next week. The following Saturday, Thomas, Jones, Peter and Mark sang a special song as a quartet which was well received by church youth. That same day, Vasco was introduced to Peter and Mark.

Peter and Mark got home that evening and excitedly talked with another cousin who sat them down and gave them the idea of taking singing with the whole group to another level since they still were waiting for the school grade 12 results to get into college. They bought the idea. The next Sunday they met again, only this time not as 5 but 9 guys including France, Simon and 2 other guys. They needed a name for the group and Peter suggested adopting a name from one popular acappella group called Breath of Truth and it was set.

Now they had to commit to a rehearsal schedule which was quite hectic. Vasco, still in high school, had to come to town every day. During weekends the group would travel and stay with the Chizyuka family to have rehearsals over the weekend to cover more ground and learn more songs. That was a lot of fun.?Singing in church alone was no longer enough, so, as a group they started performing at any school in Kavango which could accommodate them during assemblies or any other program they had.

Soon they were performing at choral music festivals and other venues. They got exposure and became known in the Kavango which meant more rehearsals and more commitment. That became too much for some members and so, they became six.

After nine months, the group had its first audition and was nominated to take part in the national televised Music Makers Competition. Out of 537 groups that auditioned, 37 finalists were chosen to travel to Windhoek where final selections were to take place.

They were quite scared and excited to stand on a big stage for the first time; however, they did more than fine. Breath of Truth scoped the top two awards for best vocal category and were overall winners (artist of the year) for the whole competition.??The competition changed everything, especially their musical direction.

In the following year 2000, they participated in a music workshop and performance with the acclaimed female Acappella group from the UK- Black-Voices. After the workshop, they had to find an original name. Black Voices helped them come up with Vocal Motion 6 – VM6!

They started receiving numerous requests and invitations to perform in Windhoek and due to distance, they had to relocate to Windhoek where there were more opportunities. Finally in 2005, they become 5 members- Mark, Peter, Thomas, Vasco, and Jones.

OUR GOAL:

?Furthermore, our commitment to social change is demonstrated trough a mutually embraced goal to produce “Music with a Message” with the aim to inspire other Namibian youth and the world at large. Our aim and commitment is to make a difference and bring about positive change in our world beginning with one step at a time.