Musician, songwriter, and cultural pioneer, Dr Thokozani Mhlambi, able to mesmerize Johannesburg audiences together with his newest musical manufacturing: Hail to the King! A Musical Story.
Written, carried out and produced by this multi-talented musician, this hot-property musical genius is able to take the stage at Theatre On The Sq., Sandton for a once-off, must-see efficiency on Sunday 20 August 2023.
The 37-year-old KwaZulu-Natal composer is thought for incorporating artwork with music, having held a creative residency on the prestigious Cite Worldwide des Arts in Paris France, and having his music used as a soundtrack for an exhibition on the Museum of Fashionable Artwork in New York.
On this live performance, Mhlambi presents a physique of labor fusing African and classical parts. It options himself on baroque cello and voice, plus 5 different string gamers. The solid additionally features a 4-piece vocal ensemble.
Hail to the King! A Musical Story is predicated on a website go to to the traditional Zulu capital of King Dingane. The story is a retrieval of the aura of the traditional capital of King Dingane, the Zulu emperor within the 1830s. His capital known as Umgungundlovu was a website of fascination each for African communities and European settlers alike. Reviews of the capital travelled so far as the dominion of Basutho, the Cape and plenty of different locations.
Mhlambi says the compositions to be showcased are a fruits of years of labor researching and growing the music.
“This work was impressed by my involvement within the 5 Hundred Yr Archive challenge on the College of Cape City. For the music, I had to take a look at the works of historic predecessors just like the late icons Prof Mzilikazi Khumalo and BP Tyamzashe – who have been nice composers within the African custom, fusing the outdated and new, African & trendy parts, in the direction of a complete new sound,” he says.
Following a Fellowship in Germany, Mhlambi presents a collection of latest music composed for himself on the baroque cello, plus different instrumentalists, and vocalists. The work is made up of three important sections together with (1) “assembly of the elephants”, (2) “the disclosing of the royal girl” in addition to (3) “the king’s dance”.
“That is the primary association of my music for a full string ensemble and vocal consort. Jozi individuals are in for a deal with with me taking part in cello, singing in addition to directing the ensemble, whereas the essential historic message is informed on stage.”
The work is proudly supported by the Nationwide Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the College of Cape City and Afropolitan Explosiv. Mhlambi additionally lately launched his newest single, New Sensation of Life, which is at the moment out there on all main streaming platforms.
GET YOUR TICKETS
Tickets for the live performance might be bought through www.webtickets.co.za, and are R110 -R150 every. Direct reserving hyperlink for tickets:https://www.webticket.co.za/V2/Occasion.aspx?itemid=1531900411
SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES:
Web site: http://thokozanimhlambi.com
Fb: @thokozani.music
Instagram: @thokozani_mhlambi
Tiktok: @thokozani_mhlambi
Twitter: @mhlambitn
To take a look at a few of his performances in Germany, go to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A13079SIa-E
Hearken to Mhlambi’s single, New Sensation of Life, right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w3tWG_4RZs
ABOUT DR THOKOZANI MHLAMBI
- Mhlambi is a musician, cultural thinker who has a robust sense of group and the way the native and world join. He builds inventive visions utilizing an internationalist methodology, which is impressed by the ground-breaking work of Pan-African philosophers like CLR James, WEB DuBois, HIE Dhlomo, and Paulo Freire. Mhlambi’s inventive influences come from those that created the custom of African anthems, reminiscent of Reuben Caluza, Ntsikana, John Knox Bokwe, and Enoch Sontonga, to call a number of. These people modernized custom in the identical manner that the Historical Greeks did by creating an ethos of mousike. He attracts inspiration from folks music from all through the world to develop his personal distinctive fashion.
- Mhlambi makes use of his artwork and exhibitions to be able to convey African tales/philosophies. He obtained his Phd in Music on the College of Cape City. In South Africa, Mhlambi has showcased his work at main platforms such because the Baxter Theatre, Soweto Theatre—the place he has drawn audiences from all walks of life. He has additionally been a visiting artist at Cite Internationale Des Arts in Paris and at universities in Finland (Jyvaskyla), Brazil, to say a number of. And has carried out in locations reminiscent of Chicago, São Paulo, Maputo (Mozambique), New York and Vancouver (Canada).
- Lately, Mhlambi’s rendition of Lizalise Idinga Lakho by Tiyo Soga (from his debut album Zulu Music Cycle), was featured in an exhibition on the Museum of Fashionable Artwork in New York. Mhlambi was an invited contributor to the roaming academy of the Dutch Artwork Institute, an itinerant program fostering varied inventive practices on the intersection of artwork & concept. In 2019, he collaborated with revered Chinese language visible artist Dachan, in a reside efficiency/set up on the Zeitz Mocca Museum in Cape City.
- Mhlambi has simply returned from an Artist Fellow on the College of Bayreuth in Germany, the place he was growing new work utilizing historic Zulu idioms.
