(Bongani Tembe. Pic supplied)
Eminent South African arts leader, Bongani
Tembe, is one of the distinguished speakers at the Beijing Forum for
Symphonic Music in China this week.
The 2025 Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music will be held from November 26 to 28 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), bringing together over 300 representatives from 190 arts institutions across more than 30 countries and regions.
Other accomplished arts leaders who will speak at this in-depth and high-level international platform, include Prof. Daniel Froschauer, Chairman of the Vienna Philharmonic; Serge Dorny, General Director of the Germany’s Bavarian State Opera; President Wang Ning of the Beijing NCPA; the internationally-renowned conductor Paavo Järvi and the famous tenor and artistic director of the Salzburg Mozart Week, Rolando Villazón.
The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the finest in the world, will present two symphonic concerts at the NCPA, conducted by Christian Thielemann, as part of the week’s activities in Beijing. Bongani Tembe, the Juilliard-trained opera singer and internationally accomplished arts leader, is the CEO and Artistic Director of the Johannesburg, KwaZulu-Natal and Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestras. He joins international industry leaders to explore progressive topics, under the Theme: Diversity Ignites Brilliance, and Pioneering Elevates Excellence.
“It is with a deep sense of humility that I accept this invitation to share my experience at this assembly of top leaders of renowned orchestras and opera companies around the world.” Tembe said.
“South Africa is celebrated as the homeland of generations of great musicians who have distinguished themselves across the globe. It has been my honour to engage with them throughout my career. And, it will be my privilege, on my return, to share the benefits of attending this forum with my South African colleagues – and to apply newfound knowledge gleaned from the cross-pollination for the enhancement of the audience base of our diverse communities.”
The Forum aims to showcase the interplay of multicultural influences, focusing on the highest artistic standards of symphonic music, anticipating new horizons that embrace evolving technologies, emergent presentations, and rigorously embraced new terminologies—raising the bar to ever-greater artistic brilliance in symphonic music.
As a universal art form, symphonic music melds diverse cultures, styles and viewpoints. Its forms of expression, communication networks, and community expectations continue to evolve within dynamic cultural contexts.
Topics in the agenda include: The mounting of Festivals, Symphony in the Digital Age and Symphony Indigenisation. Mr Sipho Nkosi, chairman of the Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra said, “We are proud of our brother, Bongani Tembe, and we wish him well as he brings a lifetime of service to music to bear on our behalf at this important international forum.”
Mr Tembe has appeared on many international arts fora and has also performed in major concert halls around the world. In 2016, he was honoured by the French Government with the title Officier des Arts et Lettres, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the arts. During the second week of December 2025, Bongani Tembe will be presenting Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra’s 4th national tour, Voices of Home with internationally-renowned conductor Marin Alsop and charismatic South African cellist Abel Selaocoe. The programme blends African soul with a refreshed classical language, highlighted by Selaocoe’s pioneering Four Spirits Cello Concerto — a work that evokes ancient memory, contemporary rhythm, and the heartbeat of home.
The performance concludes with Rachmaninov’s lush and passionate Symphony No. 2, bringing the evening to a sweeping emotional finale. Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra concerts are as follows:
Johannesburg, December 10 & 11 Linder Auditorium at 19h30
Durban, December 13 - Durban Playhouse at 15h00
Cape Town: December 16 - Cape Town City Hall at 18h00
Booking is through Quicket
For more information
on the KZN Philharmonic, click on the advert to the top right-hand side of this
article.
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