This fall, Carnegie Hall presents UBUNTU: Music and Arts of South Africa, a month-long festival from October 8 to November 5, 2014, featuring an exciting array of events to be presented at Carnegie Hall and partner venues throughout New York City, inviting audiences to explore the incredibly dynamic and diverse culture of South Africa. Click here for a complete festival press kit.Week one highlights at Carnegie Hall include a kick-off concert by legendary artists
Hugh Masekela and
Vusi Mahlasela—ambassadors of freedom whose music was a conduit for change during South Africa’s 46-year period of Apartheid—on
Friday, October 10 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. Masekela and Mahlasela will be joined by fellow South African musician
Dave Matthews as special guest for the concert,
Twenty Years of Freedom, which celebrates the 20th anniversary of the first free elections in South Africa.
The following evening, Saturday, October 11 at 9:00 p.m. in Zankel Hall, two masters of contemporary Zulu maskandi music—Madala Kunene and Phuzekhemisi—headline a double bill that showcases two aspects of this music, often dubbed the “Zulu blues”. Kunene and his quintet draw on the spiritual aspects of the style, while Phuzekhemisi performs exuberant, high-energy music with singers and dancers in traditional attire.
On Monday, October 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Weill Recital Hall, the rising, young South African soprano Pretty Yende makes her New York recital debut with pianist Kamal Khan, performing music by Debussy, Liszt, Bellini, Giménez, and others. Ms. Yende earned standing ovations when she made her 2013 Metropolitan Opera debut in Rossini’s Le comte Ory. Of that performance, The New York Times said, “Her voice has a luminous sheen… She delivered some of the most difficult coloratura passages with scintillating precision.”
In addition to its Zankel Hall performance, Phuzekhemisi performs in a free Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert at the Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture in the Bronx on Sunday, October 12 at 3:00 p.m. The event is presented by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI). WMI also presents a Carnegie Kids program, recommended for ages 3-6, by Sbongiseni Duma, which will take families on a joyful, interactive musical journey to South Africa, on Sunday, October 12 at 3:00 p.m. at the Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn. WMI will present UBUNTU events at Carnegie Hall and in community venues throughout the festival, inviting families, young musicians, and the community at large to experience a wide range of music from South Africa.
Throughout the UBUNTU festival, an exhibition in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall lobby, entitled Johannesburg in Print, celebrates the expression of South Africa’s visual arts community through the medium of printmaking. The displayed works were created in the city of Johannesburg and highlight the vibrant David Krut Print Workshop, which has fostered a creative community of emerging and established artists in South Africa for more than a decade.
UBUNTU extends throughout New York City, with festival programming at leading partner cultural institutions featuring music, dance, film, visual arts, panel discussions, and more.
Ubuntu Education Fund presents Sounds of Freedom, a musical journey of social activism and reflection, on Wednesday, October 8 at 6:30 p.m. at the Deepak HomeBase on the mezz of ABC Home. Hugh Masekela and Dr. Frank Lipman will discuss the role of music as a tool for social activism.
The Apollo Theater, in partnership with the World Music Institute, presents the third installment of its annual Africa Now! Festival, spotlighting today’s South African music scene and Harlem’s enduring cultural and social relationship with South Africa. The four-day festival will include a panel discussion, Live Wire, on the change in South African music following the fall of Apartheid led by ethnomusicologist and University of Pittsburgh Professor Gavin Steingo on Thursday, October 9 at 6:30 p.m.; a performance by South African singer, pianist, dancer, and performer Toya Delazy on Friday, October 10 at 10:00 p.m.; a blowout concert event featuring a new generation of South African artists, with performances by The Soil, Simphiwe Dana, and Tumi Molekane on Saturday, October 11 at 8:00 p.m.; a performance from Johannesburg’s newest favorite Afro-jazz band The Muffinz on Saturday, October 11 at 10:00 p.m.; a South African-themed family workshop with artist and designer Vickie Frémont, in which families will use materials to craft puppets through her Recycled Art program, on Sunday, October 12 at 1:00 p.m.; and an Africa Now!–South Africa edition of the Apollo’s Uptown Hall series focusing on Harlem’s enduring social, political, and cultural relationship with South Africa, co-moderated by The Africa Channel’s Dr. Felicia Mabuza-Suttle and NYABJ President Michael J. Feeney, on Sunday, October 12 at 3:00 p.m., with panelists to include publisher Milton Allimadi, professor John Higginson, actor Ron Kunene, National Black Theatre CEO Sade Lythcott, South African Consul General George Monyemangene, and producer Voza Rivers. Also part of the Uptown Hall is a Woza Albert! commemoration and performance by the SAHAVO Choir.
A pair of recent South African films will be screened at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, presented by African Film Festival Inc. in partnership with the Schomburg Center and the Apollo Theater: Felix (2013, dir. Roberta Durrant), a family-friendly film described as “Billy Elliot with Cape jazz,” on Saturday, October 11 at 1:00 p.m., and Miners Shot Down (2014, dir. Rehad Desai), a documentary about the brutal police suppression of a strike by South African mineworkers, the country’s first post-colonial massacre in which 34 people were killed, on Saturday, October 11 at 4:00 p.m.
Jazz at Lincoln Center hosts a Listening Party with South African vocalist Nicky Schrire sharing some of her favorite and most influential records on Monday, October 13 at 7:00 p.m. in the Irene Diamond Education Center, and four performances by the Kuumba Collective, a collaborative ensemble of American and South African artists led by saxophonist TK Blue and vocalist Nicky Schrire, featuring classic repertoire of South African jazz as well as original works, on Wednesday, October 15 at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and Thursday, October 16 at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. in Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola.
As part of the annual Fall for Dance Festival presented by New York City Center, Johannesburg-based Vuyani Dance Theatre performs Umnikelo (“offering”), a rapturous work with choreography and direction by Luyanda Sidiya that blends African dance and Western contemporary movement, on Tuesday, October 14 at 8:00 p.m. and Wednesday, October 15 at 8:00 p.m.
Keyes Art Projects highlights contemporary trends in visual arts in South Africa, coordinating a series of exhibitions at leading galleries in New York City. Openings during the first week of the UBUNTU festival include Mark Borghi Fine Art, presenting the work of Sholto Ainslie from October 8 to November 5, and Anna Zorina Gallery, presenting Shaun Ellison: Out of Africa from October 11 to October 25.
The New York Public Library partners with Urban Stages to bring South African cultural programs to young people. In the UBUNTU festival’s opening week, these include a Puppet-Making Workshop for Kids on Tuesday, October 7 at 4:00 p.m. at the Washington Heights Library in Manhattan and on Tuesday, October 14 at 4:00 p.m. at the Melrose Library in the Bronx; plus South African Drumming for Teens on Friday, October 10 at 3:30 p.m. at the Baychester Library in the Bronx and on Thursday, October 16 at 4:00 p.m. at the Edenwald Library in the Bronx. Additional workshops during the festival will be held on October 25 (puppet-making) and October 21 and 29 (drumming).
UBUNTU: Music and Arts of South Africa
With its UBUNTU festival, Carnegie Hall salutes South Africa, a country with its dizzying patchwork of cultures, eleven official languages, and a cultural life like none other. Roughly translated as “I am because you are,” Ubuntu is a philosophy from Southern Africa that emphasizes the importance of community, a way of thinking that has influenced recent moves toward reconciliation and cultural inclusion in South Africa as fostered by South Africa’s former president, the late Nelson Mandela. The spirit of this philosophy is embodied in the festival’s programming, which features a varied lineup of artists representing the many threads that together make up the country’s musical culture.
“In creating the UBUNTU festival, we were inspired by the cultural life of this incredibly diverse country,” said Clive Gillinson, Carnegie Hall’s Executive and Artistic Director. “It is a nation with a dynamic, often surprising culture like no other—the birthplace of larger-than-life musical presences like Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Abdullah Ibrahim, and now, a seemingly endless array of vocal talent from every corner of the country. Our festival also comes twenty years after the first free elections in South Africa, an anniversary made even more resonant by the recent passing of Nelson Mandela. The country’s landscape continues to evolve, and this makes for fascinating explorations throughout the arts.”
Dedicated to Mr. Mandela’s legacy, the UBUNTU festival features Carnegie Hall performances by artists representing different musical traditions, including concerts paying tribute to notable South African icons and milestones. In addition to showcasing world-renowned South African musicians who are beloved the world over, festival programming will also provide a window for audiences into many kinds of South African music that may be less well-known: the powerful spirituality and dynamism of the maskandi music of the Zulu people, music from the Cape region including a Cape Malay choir and folk musicians from remote regions of the Karoo desert, and two thrilling generations of South African jazz artists. In addition, two critically-acclaimed South African classical vocalists will make their New York recital debuts as part of the festival. Looking beyond performances at Carnegie Hall, the UBUNTU festival will extend citywide through events at prestigious partner organizations, with programming showcasing visual art, film, and dance, as well as panel discussions featuring leading social and political voices on the significant cultural issues.
UBUNTU partners include: African Film Festival Inc.; Anna Zorina Gallery; Apollo Theater; David Krut Projects; Flushing Town Hall; Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture; Jazz at Lincoln Center; The Julliard School; Keyes Art Projects; Margaret Mead Film Festival at the American Museum of Natural History; Marian Goodman Gallery; Mark Borghi Fine Art; The New Victory Theater; New York City Center; The New York Public Library; The Paley Center for Media; Queens College, City University of New York; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; Ubuntu Education Fund; Weeksville Heritage Center; and the World Music Institute.
Carnegie Hall has launched a special UBUNTU festival website, carnegiehall.org/SouthAfrica, which will feature information on festival events, interviews with artists, videos introducing the music being performed, and other content designed to illuminate festival offerings. For a video overview of the festival, please click here.
UBUNTU: Music and Arts of South Africa
WEEK ONE
Tuesday, October 7 at 4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, October 14 at 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 25 at 2:00 p.m.
Various Locations
PUPPET-MAKING WORKSHOPS FOR KIDS
Tuesday, October 7 at 4 p.m.
Washington Heights Library
1000 St. Nicholas Avenue | Manhattan
Tuesday, October 14 at 4 p.m.
Melrose Library
910 Morris Avenue | Bronx
Saturday, October 25 at 2 p.m.
Bronx Library Center
310 East Kingsbridge Road | Bronx
nypl.org
Presented by The New York Public Library in partnership with Urban Stages.
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Wednesday, October 8 to Wednesday, November 5
Mark Borghi Fine Art
Exhibition
SHOLTO AINSLIE
Mark Borghi Fine Art
52 East 76th Street | Manhattan
borghi.org | 212-439-6425
Free
Coordinated by Keyes Art Projects.
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Wednesday, October 8, 2014 at 6:30 p.m.
Deepak HomeBase
Panel Discussion
SOUNDS OF FREEDOM
Hugh Masekela
Dr. Frank Lipman
Deepak HomeBase
On the mezz of ABC Home
888 Broadway | Manhattan
ubuntufund.org | 646-827-1190
Tickets: $50
Presented by the Ubuntu Education Fund.
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Thursday, October 9 at 6:30 p.m.
Panel Discussion
LIVE WIRE
Apollo Theater | Soundstage
Gavin Steingo, Moderator
Simphiwe Dana
Tumi Molekane
The Soil
Apollo Theater | Soundstage
253 West 125th Street | Manhattan
apollotheater.org | 212-531-5300
Free (RSVP suggested)
Presented by the Apollo Theater in partnership with World Music Institute.
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Friday, October 10 at 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 16 at 4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, October 21 at 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday, October 29 at 3:30 p.m.
Various Locations
SOUTH AFRICAN DRUMMING FOR TEENS
Friday, October 10 at 3:30 p.m.
Baychester Library
2049 Asch Loop North | Bronx
Thursday, October 16 at 4 p.m.
Edenwald Library
1255 East 233rd Street | Bronx
Tuesday, October 21 at 3:30 p.m.
Parkchester Library
1985 Westchester Avenue | Bronx
Wednesday, October 29 at 3:30 p.m.
Great Kills Library
56 Giffords Lane | Staten Island
nypl.org
Presented by The New York Public Library in partnership with Urban Stages.
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Friday, October 10 at 8:00 p.m.
Carnegie Hall | Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
HUGH MASEKELA
VUSI MAHLASELA
Dave Matthews, Guest Artist
TWENTY YEARS OF FREEDOM
Tickets: $35–$80
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Friday, October 10 at 10:00 p.m.
Apollo Theater | Soundstage
TOYA DELAZY
Apollo Theater | Soundstage
253 West 125th Street | Manhattan
apollotheater.org | 212-531-5300
Tickets: $20
Presented by the Apollo Theater in partnership with World Music Institute.
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Saturday, October 11 to Saturday, October 25
Anna Zorina Gallery
Exhibition
SHAUN ELLISON: OUT OF AFRICA
Anna Zorina Gallery
533 West 23rd Street | Manhattan
annazorinagallery.com | 212-243-2100
Free
Coordinated by Keyes Art Projects.
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Saturday, October 11 at 1:00 p.m.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Film Screening
THE LIBERATION SERIES
FELIX
Roberta Durrant, Director
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Boulevard | Manhattan
RSVP: schomburgcenter.eventbrite.com
212-491-2200
Free
Presented by African Film Festival, Inc. in partnership with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Apollo Theater.
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Saturday, October 11 at 4:00 p.m.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Film Screening
THE LIBERATION SERIES
MINERS SHOT DOWN
Rehad Desai, Director
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Boulevard | Manhattan
RSVP: schomburgcenter.eventbrite.com
212-491-2200
Free
Presented by African Film Festival, Inc. in partnership with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Apollo Theater.
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Saturday, October 11 at 8:00 p.m.
Apollo Theater | Mainstage
THE SOIL
SIMPHIWE DANA
TUMI MOLEKANE
Apollo Theater | Mainstage
253 West 125th Street | Manhattan
apollotheater.org | 212-531-5300
Tickets: $25–$55
Presented by the Apollo Theater in partnership with World Music Institute.
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Saturday, October 11 at 9:00 p.m.
Carnegie Hall | Zankel Hall
MADALA KUNENE
PHUZEKHEMISI
Tickets: $36, $42
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Saturday, October 11 at 10:00 p.m.
Apollo Theater | Soundstage
THE MUFFINZ
Apollo Theater | Soundstage
253 West 125th Street | Manhattan
apollotheater.org | 212-531-5300
Tickets: $20
Presented by the Apollo Theater in partnership with World Music Institute.
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Sunday, October 12 at 1:00 p.m.
Apollo Theater | Soundstage
VICKIE FRÉMONT: RECYCLED ART WORKSHOP
Apollo Theater | Soundstage
253 West 125th Street | Manhattan
apollotheater.org | 212-531-5300
Free (RSVP suggested)
Presented by the Apollo Theater in partnership with World Music Institute.
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Sunday, October 12 at 3:00 p.m.
Apollo Theater | Mainstage
Panel Discussion
UPTOWN HALL: THE HARLEM / SOUTH AFRICA CONNECTION
Dr. Felicia Mabuza-Suttle, Co-Moderator
Michael J. Feeney, Co-Moderator
Milton Allimadi
John Higginson
Ron Kunene
Sade Lythcott
Consul General George Monyemangene
Voza Rivers
Apollo Theater | Mainstage
253 West 125th Street | Manhattan
apollotheater.org | 212-531-5300
Free (RSVP suggested)
Presented by the Apollo Theater in partnership with World Music Institute.
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Sunday, October 12 at 3:00 p.m.
Weeksville Heritage Center
CARNEGIE KIDS: SBONGISENI DUMA
•• Bongi Duma, Lead Vocals and Percussion
•• Nkoceey Tshabalala, Vocals
•• Lindiwe Dlamini, Vocals
•• Yolanda Zama, Vocals
•• Jordan Scannella, Bass and Acoustic Guitar
•• Gabu “Junior” Wedderburn, Percussion
Weeksville Heritage Center
158 Buffalo Avenue (between Bergen Street and St. Marks Avenue) | Brooklyn
weeksvillesociety.org | 718-756-5243
Carnegie Kids is supported, in part, by a generous endowment gift from Linda and Earle Altman.
Free
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Sunday, October 12 at 3:00 p.m.
Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture at Hostos Community College
NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERT: PHUZEKHEMISI
Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture
Hostos Community College | Repertory Theater
450 Grand Concourse (at 149th Street) | Bronx
RSVP: 718-518-4455
hostos.cuny.edu/CultureArts
Carnegie Hall’s Neighborhood Concerts are sponsored by Target®.
Free
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Monday, October 13 at 7:00 p.m.
Irene Diamond Education Center
Jazz at Lincoln Center
LISTENING PARTY: NICKY SCHRIRE
Irene Diamond Education Center
Jazz at Lincoln Center
Broadway at 60th Street | Manhattan
jalc.org | 212-258-9800
Free
Presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center.
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Monday, October 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Carnegie Hall | Weill Recital Hall
PRETTY YENDE, Soprano
New York Recital Debut
KAMAL KHAN, Piano
GIOACHINO ROSSINI “La promessa” from Les soirées musicales
VINCENZO BELLINI “Vanne, o rosa fortunata”
GAETANO DONIZETTI “Me voglio fa ‘na casa”
GAETANO DONIZETTI “L’amor funesto”
CLAUDE DEBUSSY “Beau soir”
CLAUDE DEBUSSY “Fleur des blés”
CLAUDE DEBUSSY “Clair de lune”
CLAUDE DEBUSSY “Mandoline”
CLAUDE DEBUSSY “Apparition”
GIACOMO MEYERBEER “O beau pays de la Touraine” from Les huguenots
FRANZ LISZT Tre sonetti di Petrarca
•• Pace non trovo
•• Benedetto sia’l giorno
•• I’ vidi in terra angelici costumi
JERÓNIMO GIMÉNEZ “Sierra de Granada” from La tempranica
JERÓNIMO GIMÉNEZ “La tarántula é un bicho mú malo” from La tempranica
JERÓNIMO GIMÉNEZ “Me llaman la primorosa” from El barbero de Sevilla
VINCENZO BELLINI “Oh, se una volta sola … Ah! non credea mirarti … Ah! non giunge uman pensiero” from La sonnambula
This concert is made possible, in part, by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Tickets: $43
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Tuesday, October 14 at 8:00 p.m.
Wednesday, October 15 at 8:00 p.m.
New York City Center
FALL FOR DANCE FESTIVAL: VUYANI DANCE THEATRE
Luyanda Sidiya, Choreographer and Director
New York City Center
131 West 55th Street | Manhattan
nycitycenter.org | 212-581-1212
Tickets: $15 (available beginning September 14)
Presented by New York City Center.
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Wednesday, October 15 at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 16 at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola
Jazz at Lincoln Center
KUUMBA COLLECTIVE
Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola
Jazz at Lincoln Center
Broadway at 60th Street | Manhattan
jalc.org/dizzys | 212-258-9800
Tickets: $35
Presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Additional support is provided by the Mai Family Foundation, South African Tourism, and South African Airways.
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