Danish Musician Thomas Buttenschøn Plots Performances in China for HIV Awareness Week

Zambian-born Danish musician Thomas Muchimba Buttenschøn is headed to China for HIV Awareness Week in Shanghai and Beijing from Nov. 26 – Dec. 1. With support from the Danish government, Buttenschøn is scheduled to perform five concerts, participate in several talks and panels, and will screen his documentary Doin’ My Drugs.

Doin’ My Drugs is Buttenschøn’s story of being born HIV-positive in 1985 and his crusade to use his music to wipe out AIDS in his native Zambia and beyond. The film chronicles Buttenschøn’s life, the death of his parents from AIDS, his emergence as a music star in Denmark and his collaboration with some of Zambia’s finest musicians and performers.

Buttenschøn will kick off his appearances in Shanghia with a solo performance followed by a discussion about HIV/AIDS in collaboration with Shanghia Pride and the Danish Consulate General.

The artist will then head to Beijing for a Q&A with UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador Huang Xiaoming, an unplugged performance and a screening of Doin’ My Drugs.

Buttenschøn will continue to play intimate shows throughout the week and plans to debut new track “Keep on Talking” while in China. Buttenschøn has recorded a full studio album in Los Angeles and Lusaka, Zambia, with 16-time Grammy-winning producer Thom Russo Jr. That album is also titled Doin’ My Drugs and will serve as the official motion picture soundtrack.

Buttenschøn has set up the Muchimba Music Foundation to help his supporters, collaborators and himself on their journeys. His goal is to test upwards of 100,000 Zambians by expanding his foundation’s Test-for-Ticket concert series into a country-wide tour of Zambia. The Muchimba Music Foundation’s initial concert in Lusaka tested 10,802 people and enrolled those who tested positive into patient care treatment programs.

For more information on Buttenschøn’s tour, foundation, film and more, head here.