Moreira Chonguica

BIO

Moreira Chonguica is a jazz musician, composer, producer, ethnomusicologist and entrepreneur from Mozambique.

Chonguica has several award-winning albums to his credit and has produced music for a number of African artists and documentaries. His albums include 'The Moreira Project Vol 1: The Journey' (2005) - SAMA for Best Producer, 'The Moreira Project Vol 2: Citizen of the World' (2008) - SAMA for Best Contemporary Jazz Album & Best Album Artwork, 'Khanimambo: Moreira Chonguica salutes the Legends of Mozambique' (2011), 'MP Reloaded' (2013) - Just Plain Folks Best African Album of the Year, 'Sensasons' (2014) and M & M: Moreira Chonguica & Manu Dibango (2017).

Chonguica has received a number of accolades in Mozambique over the years, including appointment to the advisory committee for the Mozambican Minister of Culture and being the only individual recipient of the 'Made In Mozambique' seal. He was voted Cultural Figure of the Year for 2014 & 2017 by the journalists of 'Noticias', Mozambique’s largest daily newspaper. He has been awarded the Superbrands accolade, three times, the first individual from the African continent to do so.

He was awarded the Order of Merit for his contribution to Mozambican jazz by President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and most recently in 2018, he was appointed as the Mozambican representative to the Ashinaga Initiative in Japan.
2019 – Moreira was presented with the Medal of Merit: Arts and Letters from the Governor of City of Maputo on behalf of the Mozambican Government for his contribution to this field in Mozambique.
2019 – Invited by UNESCO to attend the International Jazz Day celebrations in Addis Ababa including performing with Dr Mulatu Astatke and the opening of the conference on World Press Freedom Day at the African Union Headquarters.
2020 – Invited to partake in the Global International Jazz Day concert on 30 April in Cape Town that was cancelled due to Covid19.
2021 – Appointed President of the Portfolio of Creative Industries and Culture for the CTA (Business Federation of Mozambique)

He believes that education is the key in the fight for poverty alleviation and is deeply involved with the youth of Mozambique. He is the patron of the music school he attended as a young boy, Escola Nacional de Musica, as well as of an HIV/Aids project entitled Sensasons, which involves high school pupils writing poetry or prose about how they feel about HIV/Aids, which was then put to music under the production of Moreira and released as a CD.

He also runs a production company called More Promotions in Mozambique, which produces the successful MoreJazz series of concerts each year, as well as having business interests in South Africa.