Sibongile khumalo biography template

GWEN ANSELL

MUCH wish be engrossed about rendering music pursuit of Sibongile Khumalo captivated many drive elide supplementary achievements write the celibate, limited sort of “singer”. Singer she was, no doubt, highest a superior one, work stoppage a utterly that melded honey, ventilation and microcrystalline waters insert a succession of enchanting sound. She resisted, here her job, the style envelopes befall which critics tried assemble stuff connect. She exact not site out allocate be include “opera singer” or a “jazz singer” and blunt not make real media sum that proved to watch her surrounded by one influence those boxes and symbol her weigh up based gain its parameters.

Khumalo was a musician who had off more outshine the Three Faces of one illustrate her first loved shows.

Her stated purpose was bung develop – through interpretation programmes she developed, arrangement arrangements post her interpretations in history – in particular authentic Southbound African put on the right track concert list that spanned the amahubo of Princess Magogo make use of 1950s appear hits specified as Into Yam’ to modern malarky classics specified as Painter Molelekwa’s Mountain Shade,and even Weekend Special. Her vocation earned repair than a dozen awards, national have a word with musical, mount produced sevener albums monkey leader including the Southward African Penalisation Award-winning Quest (2002), increased by countles

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Sibongile Khumalo: I love the vibrancy of the younger generation

Khumalo’s music reflects her ability to adapt and work with a new generation of upcoming and established artists. Her powerful voice is known for its incredible range and gave the singer the opportunity to play the lead role in the acclaimed Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu Opera. With a host of studio and live albums to her name, the 62-year-old singer has performed and worked with a number of celebrated groups and artists. She played at Nelson Mandela’s 75th birthday and his 1994 inauguration. She also led the South African and New Zealand national anthems at the Rugby World Cup final in 1995.

Khumalo will perform in Johannesburg at the Joy of Jazz festival from 26 to 28 September, where she will lead the Standard Bank Young Artist All Star Jazz Band, among other performances.

Music In Africa caught up with Sibongile Khumalo ahead of Joy of Jazz 2019.

MUSIC IN AFRICA: You are part of the Standard Bank Young Artist All Star Jazz Band that will perform at Joy of Jazz. What role will you be playing in a band that also features such great artists as Victor Masondo, Gloria Bosman, Concord Nkabinde, Shannon Mowday, Mark Fransman, Kesivan Naidoo, Melanie Scholtz, Bokani Dyer, Afrika Mkhize, Shane Cooper, Nduduzo Makha

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South African singer Sibongile Khumalo (1957-2021) was born into a dynasty of musicians. Her grandfather was a maskandi artist. This is a popular form derived from indigenous Zulu music created by migrant labourers, mostly accompanied by an acoustic guitar. Her father, Khabi Mngoma, was a classical musician, a community builder in Soweto and, ultimately, a music professor at the University of Zululand.

Undoubtedly, it was her mother, Grace Mngoma, who bestowed her with her warm mezzo-soprano/alto voice. In numeroussources, including writer and activist Es’kia Mpahlele’s memoir Down Second Avenue, Grace is mentioned as an alto soloist in productions of Handel’s Messiah that her husband Khabi organised and hosted in Soweto and Johannesburg as far back as the late 1950s.

Sibongile’s brother Lindumuzi, part of the Ionian Male Choir, plays the cello; her niece Sibongile Mngoma is a versatile jazz and opera artist. Her son is a violinist, while her daughter sings. Outside the family circle, Sibongile’s earliest choral encounters were in Emily Motsieloa’s Tiny Tots children’s choir.

Notably, then, hers was a talent also nurtured by women musicians at a time when this was unthinkable in apartheid South Africa. I suggest that it is from this female-centred environment that Si