Theresa Ng'ambi

Theresa Ng'ambi is a multi disciplined artist from Zambia. She is an award winner, conservationist, fashion designer, actress, model, acoustic guitarist, percussion player, storyteller, producer, composer and Afro traditional musician. She is a blend of traditional and modern sounds with preferences in traditional rythms, ancestry chants, percussion, jazz, blues and soul. Most of her singing is in native tongue to preserve African languages. She prides in expressing her voice in her mother tongues. She is a natural performer passionate to play live music and improvisation.

Theresa Ng'ambi was raised by a single mother and inspired by nature with influences of folk songs from her grandmother. Following her grandfather's footsteps a retired miner and a kalimba player, she developed interest in singing and writing ethno music at the age of five. The tragic events of losing her parents, brother and grandparents at a young age, Theresa decided to write a diary of her life through music.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) presented Theresa Ng'ambi in 2012 in their entertainment segment "Back to the Roots“ in which her songs were broadcast for a week with an intimate interview on BBC Africa. In Livingstone she recorded in 2016 her first album of 10 songs under Passions Records called "Mandu“. In 2018 she was awarded best singer of the year by Zambia Women Award. She was brand ambassador for Birdwatch Zambia and worked with local and international schools on preservation, conservation and climate change. Ng'ambi has been featured on TEDx Lusaka in 2023 and 2019 where she sung her message on preservation and conservation inspired from story tale of her grandmother titled “The Wise Goat“. She has produced, composed music and acted in Zambian film series 'Ubuntu' and 'Mungoma' airing on  Zambezi Magic DStv.

She has shared stage with Hugh Masekela, Oliver Mtukudzi, Hope Masike the mbira player, Sampa The Great, Siân Pottok the kora player and collaborated in 2022 with American dj poolboi. The song “Malo Okoma“ (Beautiful Place) is sung in Chichewa and English. The track was conceived as a journey of healing by Ng’ambi, written in her lowest moments in a time where she had a lot of pain from experiencing flashbacks of past tragedies. The video is also a declaration of love and the beauty of Zambia.

She performed solo in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Congo and worked together with art spaces like Modzi Arts, Kalulu Kreativez and Alliance Française in Lusaka and Nafasi in Dar es Salaam. In 2022 she performed at Marafiki Festival in Dar and had a concert at Institut Français Lubumbashi where she collaborated with the Congolese multi disciplined folk artist Willy Kanyange Ilumbo. In 2023 she had an Artist in Residence in Zanzibar and was part of Sauti za Busara Xtra. She collaborated with Jagari Chanda‘s legendary Zamrock band WITCH for the album „Zango“ and is gaining international recognition by touring the US, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand with the band in 2023/24.