Ethiopia is a musically traditional country. Of course, popular music is
played, recorded and listened to, but most musicians also sing traditional
songs, and most audiences choose to listen to both popular and traditional
styles. A long-standing popular musical tradition in Ethiopia was that of brass
bands, imported from Jerusalem in the form of forty Armenian orphans (Arba
Lijoch) during the reign of Haile Selassie. This band, which arrived in Addis
Ababa on September 6, 1924, became the first official orchestra of Ethiopia. By
the end of World War II, large orchestras accompanied singers; the most
prominent orchestras were the Army Band, Police Band, and Imperial Bodyguard
Band. Most of these bands were trained by Europeans or Armenians.
