Elizabeth was born in Wollega, Western Ethiopia in 1962. She began singing at age three, and composed her first song at age 12, personally directing the first performance! Her family was strongly Lutheran; her father converted to Christianity in the early 1900s, after having a vision telling him to look for the book of life. He walked for a month and a half before he found it - an Amharic translation of the Bible. He eventually built his own church, and has been preaching since age 17. Elizabeth accompanied him, along with her sisters Martaa, Kumei and Aster, in walks across Ethiopia to sing songs and build faith. She recalls a visit from the Campfire Singers from America who visited their village when she was little, and remembers being very inspired by their music.

She went to Kenya to work in radio with her sister Martaa, broadcasting Christian messages into Ethiopia. She wrote scripts and songs for broadcast, and continued there until she was accepted to study at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During this time, she was homesick, and wrote many paens to her homeland and the strife of people there. "...most of the songs that I wrote were because I was praying so much for the country to be changed...[and] about the persecution in Ethiopia and hope for God..." Along with her sisters Kumei, Martaa, and Aster, she took part in Oromo Church practices weekly, which originally rotated from members houses, until the group became so big they had to find a space devoted strictly to them. She helped organize the Rehoboth International Oromo Choir in 1999, and much of the repertoire comes from songs which she has composed. "[the songs] just come to my mind, and I sing, then write them..." She has hopes to take part in Oromo Lutheran conventions nationwide, in hopes of helping to build community and spread the choir's music. "The songs pass from one person to another, then reach us, and from us they go to different places, round and round... "

Elizabeth recently recorded and released what is thought to be the first CD of Oromo music! It is called "Hundinu Harka Kee Keessa Jira, Yaa Gooftaa" and can be purchased by contacting enamarra@lssmn.org. It features Elizabeth's compositions with an interesting arrangement of instruments backing her up, including frame drum, keyboards, bass, flute, and guitar!

Listen to Qilleensi Hin Jiru:

Mp3 Download  (5.54 MB)

RealMedia Download (3.08 MB; plays as it's downloading)