(Avigail
Bushakevitz)
Festival goers will be able to tune in
to the soundtrack of South Africa when the country’s finest musicians (along
with visiting international artists) take to stages in venues ranging from
plush theatres to spruced up school halls during the National Arts Festival,
which runs in Grahamstown from June 30 to July 10.
There’s musical royalty on the
programme this year – each gracing the stage for one night only. Look forward
to an audience with the prince of hip hop AKA (July 8) and the king of African
love songs Ringo Madlingozi (July 9). The queen herself, Simphiwe Dana, will
perform as part of the Standard Bank Jazz Festival on 8 and July 9.
Other headliners on the contemporary
music programme include Johannesburg rockers Prime Circle (July 6), Cape Town
live electronic act The Kiffness (July 2), and eclectic soul masters The
Muffinz (July 9).
Violinist Avigail Bushakevitz, this
year’s Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for Music, will be accompanied
by her brother Ammiel for two performances, which will include two pieces by
Fritz Kreisler, JS Bach’s Partita
No. 3 in E Major, and Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 (July 1
and 4).
Avigail Bushakevitz will also perform
as the soloist at this year’s Festival Gala Concert, with the Eastern Cape
Philharmonic Orchestra and the Odeion String Quartet under the baton of South
Africa’s favourite conductor Richard Cock (July 3).
Samson Diamond, the leader of the
Odeion String Quartet, will join pianist Grethe Nöthling to present a
flamboyant selection of some of the most breath-taking film scores of the last
century in Cinema
Extravaganza (July 5 and 7).
Music lovers can expect something
extraordinary when Guy Buttery’s virtuosic solo guitar intertwines with the
Odeion String Quartet in daring new arrangements, with strings and guitar
operating as musical equals in a contemporary African symphonic setting (July 4
and 5).
Reimagining the classical is also at
the heart of Breath and
Hammer, which furthers Grammy-nominated American clarinettist David
Krakauer’s and pianist Kathleen Tagg’s quest to redefine the sounds and roles
of their instruments (July 7 and 9).
Tagg, a South African pianist who now
lives and works in New York, will also present a solo programme, African Piano. The
programme promises to take audiences through works by African classical composers
and those deeply influenced by the music of central Africa to arrangements that
include Zimbabwean mbira music, Malian kora songs and original compositions (July
6 and 8).
Traditional music, indigenous to the
area, will be showcased by the Eastern Cape Dance and Music Ensemble’s We Salute Madiba (Part 2),
which builds on the group’s success at last year’s Festival. The programme aims
to honour Nelson Mandela’s ‘royal’ upbringing in the Transkei region to tell
the story of the man behind the legend (June 30, July 1).
“The power
to unite humanity and make peace rests with art forms that break stereotypes,”
says percussionist Hannabiell Sanders, one half of the Afro-Latin percussion
and brass duet, Ladies of Midnight Blue. Together with Yilis del Carmen Suriel,
she will bring their passionate and committed style to the South African stage
from the North East of England (June 30 and July 2).
The sounds of South America will be
represented by Colombian accordion player Álvaro Meza, best known for his award-winning
Vallenato style (July 8 and 10), and Uruguayan multi-instrumentalist Mateo Mera
(July 4 and 6).
Trombonist and vocalist Siyavuya
Makuzeni, this year’s Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for Jazz, is well
known for her uniquely experimental, edgy yet pure intonation. “The influence
of Xhosa music and jazz is the foundation of my musical beginnings, and has
helped me to shape my own voice or individual expression,” she says. Makuzeni
will bring her genre-busting style to Grahamstown as part of the Standard Bank
Jazz Festival.
“From honouring the work of legendary
composers to celebrating the successes of new composers as well as introducing
new sounds from beyond the Limpopo and from across our oceans, this year’s Main
Music programme continues to reflect our enthusiasm to present a richly
textured, diverse and enjoyable platform for both artists and audiences,” says
NAF Artistic Director Ismail Mahomed.
The Standard Bank Jazz Festival
promises to act as a barometer of the South African jazz scene as it offers a
glimpse into the country’s jazz identity in all its complexity – from
razor-sharp contemporary artists (Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner Siya
Makuzeni, Afrika Mkhize Big Band), to established South African stars (Simphiwe
Dana, Caiphus Semenya, Ringo Madlingozi, Swing City); to the hippest groovers
(Cape Town duo The Kiffness; Soul Housing Project with Bokani Dyer and Sakhile
Moleshe).
Visiting international stars on the
Standard Bank Jazz programme include Trio Corrente from Brazil; Norway’s Petter
Wettre; Austria’s Rabitsch & Pawlick; Holland’s Toon Roos; as well as
musicians from Switzerland, Australia, Italy, Sweden, the US, Britain,
Mozambique, Slovakia and France.
Alan Webster, director of the Standard
Bank Jazz Festival, says: “We are gathering a mesmerising collection of
musicians from around the world who will spend a week generating jazz that has
a unique Grahamstown energy, creativity and thrill. We look forward to hosting
audiences who are keen on sharing this vibrant art form with us.”
Festival-goers can look forward to
sizzling after-hours collaborations between visiting jazz musicians at the late
night Standard Bank Jazz Café at Saints Bistro in High Street. Sessions will be
hosted by a different musician every night, including pianist Nduduzo
Makhathini, last year’s Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner.
There are over 60 acts on the Fringe
presenting musical magic, ranging from cabaret and musical theatre (A Great American Songbook, Ityala la
Maul), to choral performances (Let
There Be Music - A Choral Celebration, Seshego Gospel Choir) to
chart-topping contemporary artists (Ovation Award winners Hatchetman, Acatears,
Acoustiq Assassins, Tshepo Fela and Chris Chameleon).
For a
detailed line-up of the music programme and to book, go to www.nationalartsfestival.co.za
The National Arts Festival is grateful
to the National Lotteries Commission, the Department of Arts and Culture,
Eastern Cape Provincial Government, Mnet and Standard Bank of South Africa.
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