27-year-old Ofentse Pitse is the first black South African woman to conduct and own an all-black orchestra. Her 40-piece symphony orchestra contributes to shedding light on African composers and propelling young black youth to excellence.
Music
Arts and Culture Destination Festivals: Tanzania’s Ongala Music Festival – “the festival of conscience”
The second annual Ongala Music Festival took place on August 23 to 25 in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. The festival named after Tanzanian musician Remmy Ongala highlights musical talents and creative collaborations in East Africa.
Arts and Culture Destination Festivals: Bayimba International Festival of the Arts in Uganda
Uganda boasts of a thriving music scene, and the multidisciplinary Bayimba International Festival of the Arts recently held in Lunkulu Island serves to bolster the various art forms. The four-day event has become an important platform for the consumption, and authentic experience of various exciting artistic acts.
Arts and Culture Johnny Clegg: South Africa’s universal man of uncommon passion
Johnny Clegg was a prophet, even if the ideal future he prophesied has not yet come to pass.
Arts and Culture Pictures: Mr Eazi, Efya and Blinky Bill perform at the Central Park SummerStage Festival
On a warm summer evening, Africans came out in huge numbers to SummerStage at Central Park to see performances from Nigerian singer Mr Eazi, Ghanaian singer Efya, and Kenyan singer Blinky Bill, the frontman for Just a Band. It was […]
Lifestyle Nigeria’s Burna Boy and South Africa’s Sho Madjozi win at the 2019 BET Awards
At the 2019 BET Awards, Nigerian musical powerhouse Burna Boy won Best International Act, while South Africa’s Sho Madjozi won Best New International Act. With her win, Madjozi became the first South African female artist to win a BET award.
Arts and Culture Jonas Gwangwa’s music and life embody the resistance against apartheid
The politics of Jonas Gwangwa’s music have stayed constant over the years, and are also apparent in the eight albums he has released in South Africa since returning from 30 years of exile.
Arts and Culture Pilgrims return to Africa’s oldest synagogue for the Lag BaOmer festival
Countless pilgrims converged at Africa’s oldest synagogue, in Tunisia, where one of the last Jewish communities in the Arab world lives, for the annual Jewish pilgrimage and Lag BaOmer festival. For years, the synagogue has not welcomed as many pilgrims because of security concerns in the region.
Arts and Culture ‘In the Abundance of Water, the Fool is Thirsty’: Bob Marley and the Pan-African Dream
In the first part of a series, Yaw Adjei-Gyamfi considers why the music and message of Bob Marley still ring fresh to our ears and minds, many years after his death.