Biruktawit Tasew's fingers glide over the strings of the begena, producing a deep, hypnotic sound. The begena "is medicine ...

One of Ethiopia’s oldest instruments, the begena was once reserved for the elite — and effectively banned during the Marxist Derg regime between 1974 and 1991. But it is experiencing a ...

The begena "is medicine for the soul," said Biruktawit, 23, who has been playing the instrument for about a year. A frame depicting the image of the Ethiopian Orthodox iconography of Archangel St ...