SA: Virtual National Arts Festival promises top music programme

24 Jun 2020 - 12:41

Published under the Creative Commons Licence

South African vocalist Spha Mdlalose is among the artists whose performance will be streamed on opening day of the virtual National Arts Festival from 25 June to 5 July.

Indigenous musician and instrument builder Madosini is the 2020 National Arts Festival featured artist.

The gospel and jazz musician will perform alongside Thandi Ntuli (piano), Linda Sikhakhane (saxophone), Sthembiso Bhengu (trumpet), Keenan Ahrends (guitar), Thembinkosi Mavimbela (bass) and Sphelelo Mazibuko (drums). They will be joined by bhacasoul artist Joliza Magayiyana.

Other musicians on the line-up include Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra principal cellist Peter Martens who will perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Solo Cello Suites throughout the festival. Classical fans will also get to see pianist Jill Richards and violinist Waldo Alexander's Beethoven performance in celebration of the great composer's 250th birthday. The performance will feature the legendary Kreutzer Sonata.

The 11-day event will feature a diverse range of performances from a host of musicians from South Africa and across the continent, including indigenous musician and instrument builder Madosini who is this year's featured artist with an 11-part documentary that will be screened daily.

Ugandan label Nyege Nyege Tapes will showcase a number of African electro genres like Acholi (Uganda), singeli (Tanzania), balani show (Mali), gqom (South Africa), gengetone (Kenya) and elone (Gabon). The label will also feature artists Duma (Kenya), MC Yallah (Uganda), Afrorack (Uganda) and HHY & the Kampala Unit (Uganda).

Other acts on the programme include 2020 Standard Bank Young Artist Award recipients Blessing Ngobeni and Sisonke Xonti, and renowned SA vocalist Gloria Bosman, who will present her recent compositions. She will be followed by Afro-jazz songbird Andy Ndlazilwana. Afro-soul sensation Ami Faku will also make a virtual appearance on 1 July, while Thandiswa Mazwai's performance will be streamed on 4 July. Mi Casa will close the music programme on 5 July.

In addition, the festival will feature two webinars hosted by Sean Davenport who will present an introduction to the VCV Rack open-source modular synthesiser. The workshops will go through the basics of clock/pulse signals, control voltage, oscillators, envelopes, modulator signals and sequencers, quantisers, audio effects and oscilloscopes, and how to use all these components within VCV and a normal musical workflow.

View the National Arts Festival's full programme here.