Ever since she was an infant Chiwoniso Maraire has been immersed in, and surrounded by, music. She was born and raised in USA up to age 15. Chiwoniso's father was an ethnomusicologist who taught marimba and mbira. Her mother was a singer, and dancer who also played traditional drums. At first Chiwoniso was in her father's marimba band, then he formed a family quartet called Mhuri ya Maraire that included Chiwoniso, her brother and sister. In 1990 Chiwoniso's family moved to Zimbabwe, her parent's homeland, and she attended Mutare Girls' High School. While there she soon joined a music group, A Peace of Ebony (P.O.E.), with members from several different countries who made revolutionary recordings. In 1994 they won 'Best New Group out of Southern Africa' award in Radio France International's Découvertes contest with their song 'Vadzimu'.
From 1995 until 2001 Chiwoniso was a member of a band called The Storm and they released a few CDs: Tigere, Hondo Yesadza and Tongogara . Chiwoniso also recorded a highly successful solo album, Ancient Voices (1996); it won the RFI Best New Artist Award. During 1999 Chiwoniso won the UNESCO prize for Arts at the MASA festival in Cote d'Ivoire and she was also a nominee in the KORA awards for Best Female Vocals of Africa category.
Having gained a lot of experience being a band member, Chiwoniso decided to follow her solo career in 2001. She now has her own acoustic group called Vibe Culture and their CD released in 2004 is called Timeless. In 2008 Chiwoniso has a new solo album, Rebel Woman with the notable involvement of Keith Farquarson who has worked with Chiwoniso all along since the