Achilla Orru: Tribute in Globe & Mail & UPDATE re: April 7 event

A wonderful tribute to the late Achilla Orru (see post below) in the March 19 Globe & Mail‘s “Lives Lived“. Written by his friend & fellow Ugandan-Canadian Opiyo Oloya, who is also known by all African music supporters in the Toronto area. Many harried Toronto subway commuters likely never knew his name, where he came from, his mother tongue, or his deepest love. To them, Achilla Orru Apaa-Idomo was the blind black man with the sweet voice who played music on the funny-looking instrument in the station. Tribute/Fundraiser, April 7 A tribute to, and fundraiser for his wife and children will … Continue reading

New events added

A few new events have been added to the Events calendar, including Apr. 7: Tribute to, and fundraiser for the late Achilla Orru (and his family) Mar. 14: Kae Sun May 25: Bonga & Don Nikas bring Angolan music to The Opera House Some more Small World Music Asian Music Series events More to come. Femi Kuti in town July 3. And don’t forget Oliver Mtukudzi on April 6!

RIP King Achilla Orru Apaa-idomo

Written while listening to Achilla’s 2004 CD, Dho-Mach (Sacred Gift)… The Ugandan and Canadian world music communities received sad news this past week, that lukeme player Achilla Orru passed away at the age of 53. apparently as the  result of heart disease. Some information about his passing is on this page, written by Davies Bagambiire. This page contains some biographical & music information. Achilla’s wife, Rose, lives in Uganda, but had just recently been granted a visa to enter Canada. There are fundraising efforts beginning to help her and their three sons  (aged between 2 and 6) to get to Canada. … Continue reading