(Dr Mhlambi. Pic by
Val Adamson)
The open-air winter sundowner concert of Dr Thokozani Mhlambi’s Early
African Intellectuals as Composers of Music project will be held in the gardens
of the Killie Campbell Library on July 26, 2019.
After a successful launch hosted in conjunction with the Urban Futures
Centre at the Durban University of Technology and subsequent sold-out
performances at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown / Makhanda; the Early
African Intellectuals as Composers of Music project is enjoying positive
reviews among arts and classical music commentators, academia, as well as in
the media.
The ground-breaking initiative is the brainchild of the internationally
acclaimed Dr Thokozani Mhlambi (PhD, Music).
Launched in a seminar form to an audience of artists, creatives, music
teachers, professors and media; the project was presented as a rich combination
of intellectualism and creativity which fundamentally came about owing to a
need to unearth, expose and honour African artistic heritage which would have
otherwise remained buried and unremembered in the halls of history along with
other African content that is shunned just because of its African origins.
“The intention is to go back to these ancient compositions and see how
best we can deliver them today using the means that we have,’ said Dr Mhlambi
during his presentation. He took the audience along on the journey travelled to
uncover the archival related material to the compositions of early African
intellectuals through a video documentary - the official introduction to the
project’s digital campaign which, following the launch, forms the second and
key educational component of the project.
Dr Mhlambi also rendered a solo extract from what he terms “The Ntsikana
Moment” which honours and is a revival of Xhosa prophet, Ntsikana’s music. To
close off the event, he together with opera students from UKZN delivered a
piece by Reuben Caluza from the 1920s. Caluza was the first African to receive
a music degree in the country. The piece called i-Land Act relates the tragic consequences of the controversial
land act which many early African intellectuals, including Sol Plaatje and John
L Dube, stood against.
Africans (and South Africans in particular) will learn about and indulge
in the revived sounds of Ntsikana, Enoch Sontoga, Tiyo Soga and lesser-known
woman composer Nokutela Dube, first wife of John L Dube. These compositions are
among those that will be performed by Dr Mhlambi, who plays the cello and
voice, and an ensemble consisting of strings, UKZN Music School opera students
and award-winning jazz pianist Lonwabo Mafani, a student at the UCT’s College
of Music.
The project has attracted interest from beyond South African boarders as
researchers from as far as the USA have begun to engage Dr Mhlambi on the
methodology and timing of the research and performance initiative.
The digital campaign can be followed on Facebook on the Early African Intellectuals
as Composers of Music page.
The Durban edition of the main concert will be held in July at the
Killie Campbell Library and the Cape Town edition in September. Final dates for
the Cape Town are still to be confirmed and will be communicated to the media
shortly.
The project is supported by the following partners: The National Arts
Council, Afropolitan Explosiv, Urban Futures Centre at DUT and the Killie
Campbell Africana Library, a part of UKZN.
The concert will take place on July 26 at 17h30 at the Killie Campbell
Africana Library, 220 Gladys Mazibuko Road in Durban.
Suggested dress code: Afropunk (but dress warm!) Tickets on a Pay What
You Can donation basis. Welcome drink on arrival
For more information email: africanintellectualscomposers@gmail.com
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