Be amazed in Grahamstown this July
This year’s National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, to be held from 2 to 11 July 2009, has been billed as “10 days of amazing” – and, judging by the jam-packed menu of music, theatre, dance, film, comedy and art, amazing it certainly will be.
This year marks several significant milestones, which the festival will be celebrating in style: 50 years since the death of iconic American jazz singer Billie “Lady Day” Holliday – who will be the subject of the Nigel Vermaas play ‘Do You Know Billie Holliday?’ – and 25 years of the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards.
Unveiling the festival’s new, funky logo and branding, festival director Ismail Mahomed announced a vibrant and varied Main festival programme to beat the economic blues and the winter shivers, and take the festival into a bright new era.
Music highlights
This year’s music line-up really cooks. Dynamic drummer Kesivan Naidoo, who won this year’s Standard Bank Young Artist Award for music and is a previous SAMRO Overseas Scholarship winner, will be presenting two concerts at the festival. The first of these, ‘Kesivan and the Lights’, includes a band made up of special mentors from around the world who have literally “lit” the way for him. His second concert, ‘Babu’, reflects the influences he absorbed during his year-long sabbatical in India on the SAMRO scholarship, and fuses the vibrancy of jazz with the ancient improvisational practices of Indian classical music.
Freshlyground, Simphiwe Dana and Busi Mhlongo will also be in action, as will The Parlotones and Jesse Clegg. Opera lovers can diarise performances by Zanne Stapelberg and Naidoo’s fellow Young Artist award winner Jacques Imbrailo.
The Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival (NYJF) runs between 2 and 5 July, where upwards of 300 students and 50 teachers gather to interact with the 80 musicians invited as performers and teachers. Two youth bands will have been constituted by the end of the festival: the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Band and the Standard Bank National School’s Big Band.
On the classical side, the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra can be seen in glorious action, and will also accompany the Cape Town City Ballet, performing Herman Løvenskjold’s score for ‘La Sylphide’ and Ludwig Minkus’ stylish music for ‘Paquita’. Accompanied by a double-bass quartet and directed by Lungile Jacobs, the Voice of Cape Town Choir presents the ‘Moerane Tribute’ in honour of the great South African composer, Michael Mosoeu Moerane, who was born 100 years ago.
In his solo recital, ‘A Spanish Celebration’, virtuoso guitarist James Grace pays tribute to three giants of Spanish guitar music: Tàrrega, Albéniz and Rodrigo. The Trio Hemanay (flautist Helen Vosloo, pianist Malcolm Nay and cellist Marian Lewis) will also perform.
Check out an exciting hybrid of traditional Xhosa music and Swiss flavours from avant-garde Swiss group EnsemBle baBel and Madosini and Dizu Plaatjies, as well as ‘Songs of the AmaGcaleka’, which presents a large ensemble of singers, dancers and musicians performing traditional pieces from the Eastern Cape. A festival highlight is sure to be the several South African collaborations with Filipino musicians – an eclectic treat.
The Fringe music programme ranges from rock to pop, from tributes to gems from the classical repertoire. In addition, playing and singing is actively encouraged at the Village Green Craft precincts, and on the streets of Grahamstown.
Further details are available in the free Festival booking kits, and booking is at Computicket. For further information, go to www.nationalartsfestival.co.za and plan your programme online.
