Nyttu Chongo is a musician and composer from Maputo, Mozambique, now residing in Fridley. He
builds, repairs, and plays a wide range of traditional Mozambican and Rwandan instruments. His mission
in life is to make the voices of his ancestors heard through these instruments so that the world does not
lose this essential musical and cultural heritage.
Since moving to Minnesota in 2016, Nyttu Chongo has made a local name for himself on both large
stages and community settings across the Midwest. Chongo has performed at the Ordway Center for
Performing Arts (Phulani, 2024), Orchestra Hall (2023), The Cedar Cultural Center (Cedar Commissions,
2022), the Guthrie Theater (Familiar, 2018), and more. In 2021, Chongo released his first full-length
album, Libandzuwa (“The Power of the Sun”).
Nyttu Chongo is a 2024 Knight Foundation grantee and a 2024-25 Minnesota State Arts Board Creative
Individuals program participant, launching his new community experience: Ancestral Connections. He
has taught music through the MPR Class Notes program for three school years (2021-2024) and was a
MacPhail Global Music Initiative Artist in Residence in 2022. Chongo was also a 2020 Minnesota State
Arts Boards Initiative grantee.