THUTO MOTSEMME

(Thuto Motsemme)

The Centre for Jazz and Popular Music will present Thuto Motsemme this evening (Wednesday October 31, 2018) at 18h00.

Motsemme is a flexible and versatile bass player who hails from Kwa-Mashu, in KZN. He was introduced to music when he was 13 and participated in local choirs as a baritone singer. He later studied music in Durban.

He has worked with different musicians over the years, such as Feya Faku, Andile Yenana, Themba Mkhize, Steve Dyer and Bheki Khoza, to name a few. This has assisted him in developing his own unique and distinctive sound. Motsemme draws his influence from a variety of music including church hymn, African folk music, avant-garde, and hip-hop, jazz. His compositions are fresh, bubbly and full of energy; anyone who encountered with his music gets transformed because of intensity and his commitment to this art form called music.

Join Thuto Motsemme (bass), with Sbu Mashiloane (piano), Leon Scharnick (sax), Bucco Xaba (drums) at The Centre for Jazz and Popular music (CJPM), Level 2, Shepstone Building at UKZN Howard College Campus on Wednesday October 31, 2018, at 18:00. Doors open at 17h30 - show starts at 18h00. R80 for general admission (R50 pensioners, R25 students).

Contact Thuli on 031 260 3385 or email Zamat1@ukzn.ac.za for more details.

KZNPO SYMPHONY REHEARSAL EXPERIENCE ON A BUDGET!

(Conductor: William Eddins)

The KZN Philharmonic Orchestra offers the morning rehearsal for the forthcoming opening concert of the symphony season with entry at just R35 for adults and teachers (R15 for scholars/children in school uniform). The rehearsal takes place tomorrow (Thursday, November 1, 2018) at the Durban City Hall.

American maestro William Eddins, Music Director Emeritus of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, returns to the KZN Philharmonic podium to launch the season. The conductor makes his bow alongside the evening’s soloist, violinist Rachel Lee Priday. Acclaimed for her beauty of tone and riveting stage presence, Priday immediately transports the audience into the heart of the evening’s programme, immersing herself in Brahms’ magnificent Violin Concerto in D Major. Brahms dedicated his three-movement magnum opus to his friend, the violinist Joseph Joachim, whose advice during its creation had been welcomed. Joachim famously declared the work one of four great German violin concerti (sharing this iconic status with its sibling masterpieces by Beethoven, Max Bruch and Mendelssohn). The reverence conferred on it by posterity endorses its reputation as a work of sublime artistry.

The second half of the evening sees the orchestra paying homage to one of the best loved works of Jean Sibelius, his three-movement Fifth Symphony. Sibelius was commissioned to write this work by the Finnish government in honour of his 50th birthday, which was declared a national holiday. Originally composed in 1915, it was revised in 1916 and again in 1919. During the composition phase, Sibelius wrote in his diary: “It is as if God Almighty had thrown down pieces of a mosaic from heaven’s floor and asked me to find out what was the original pattern.” While feeling compelled to move with the times which saw radical changes in works being composed by masters such as Ravel and Debussy, the composer knew he had to be true to himself. He wrote, “I wished to give my symphony a more human form. More down-to-earth, more vivid.” The success of the final outcome is reflected in the Fifth Symphony’s popularity to the present day.

For more information on the forthcoming symphony season link direct to the KZN Philharmonic’s website by clicking on the orchestra’s banner advert on the top of the page or visit kznphil.org.za

NATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL CALLS FOR 2019 FRINGE APPLICATIONS

Early bird deadline for entries: December 31, 2018

Artists and performers from South Africa and beyond are invited to submit their work for the 2019 National Arts Festival Fringe. The 45th iteration of South Africa’s biggest and most diverse arts showcase will take place from June 27 to July 7, 2018, in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape.

Says National Arts Festival Fringe Manager, Zikhona Monaheng, “In 2019, the National Arts Festival Fringe will be focusing on accessibility and we invite all the artists, producers and theatre organisations that produce and/or work with artists living with any disability to apply. As an open-access festival, our aim is to create more opportunities and encourage artists living with disability to showcase their talent. The Festival Office will waive the application fee for these production companies. However, there are a limited number of performance spaces available.”

Monaheng continues, “We are looking for bold, exciting and interesting work - everything from experimental, genre-busting innovation to pure entertainment, family theatre and crowd-pleasing shows.”

Monaheng says the Fringe is always unexpected and even unpredictable. “We know that some of the shows are going to do well with audiences, but every year there are these wonderful surprises … It’s always exciting to watch these plays come to life through the audience’s reaction.”

Fringe festivals across the world are marked by their independence, freedom of expression and experimental content – and the National Arts Festival Fringe is no different. Many well-known artists also return to the Fringe with successfully travelled work, revisiting and extending it; while other artists have been performing on the National Arts Festival Fringe for decades, bringing crowd-pleasing favourites.

International artists, producers and independent theatre makers both perform and scout at the National Arts Festival, often striking up collaborative ideas when they are at the Fringe.

Artists, musicians, singers, dancers, performance artists and other creatives can submit their applications online at www.nationalartsfestival.co.za

An application fee of R3,000 is payable but artists who beat the December 31, 2018, early bird deadline will receive 10% off. Applications close on January 21, 2019.

The National Arts Festival programme comprises largely of a curated and selected Main Programme and an open, unsolicited Fringe. These two key elements are supported by numerous special programmes, projects and performances that make up the entire Festival featuring hundreds of shows and thousands of performances.

(To link direct to the NAF site click on the large banner that runs across the top of this blog or visit https://www.nationalartsfestival.co.za or visit Facebook: www.facebook.com/nationalartsfestival; Twitter: @artsfestival or Instagram: nationalartsfestival)

COLOUR ME BEAUTIFUL

COMMUNITY ZA is hosting a unique exhibition by Ilma Matthews, Haley Wright, Ali Akal and Ronlynne Benn. Colour Me Beautiful has been curated to shift the viewers’ focus onto the fragility of our earth and our collective responsibility to it.

The opening of the exhibition also provided the opportunity to partner with local organisations such as Breathe Ocean Conservation and Project Dog by building eco bricks and an interactive art piece that allowed attendees to donate and help raise funds.

Bliss Earrings brought some more colour into the event with their locally handmade jewellery.

“The gallery has also partnered with Sithanda Upliftment Projects, so bring along your pre-loved clothes and help them bring social change to our communities!” says Kayley Davies (Manager of COMMUNITY ZA)

The collective exhibition will be up until November 2 2018. Find COMMUNITY ZA at 3 Millar Road, Berea. Open weekdays from 09h00 to 15h30 - go grab a cuppa, buy some art, and be inspired.

THE JONATHAN ROSS SHOW: NOVEMBER 3

Coming up on ITV Choice (DStv 123) on November 3, at 21h30, will be The Jonathan Ross Show.

This week on The Jonathan Ross Show, Jonathan will be joined by the man behind Mrs Brown’s Boys – Brendan O’Carroll, one of the biggest boy bands of all time Boyzone, who will be chatting and performing ahead of their farewell tour, The Voice and Big Brother presenter Emma Willis, and star of the BAFTA award-winning comedy series People Just Do Nothing Chabuddy G.