'I'm living my f***g dream': Bongeziwe Mabandla refuses to play the underdog

Many fans of Bongeziwe Mabandla routinely lament how under-appreciated he is. A cursory glance at his career trajectory hints at some...

15 Jul

Xonti Leads With Calculated Inspiration

Radiant reedman and composer Sisonke Xonti led a calculated, albeit inspired performance in the first of two signature showcases given to...

15 Jul

Loftiness of lucidity in the Vuma Levin Show

There’s a clinical clarity to the music of guitarist, Vuma Levin. It underpins the refreshing lucidity of his performance at this year’s...

13 Jul

Ami Faku’s World of Cuddles and Coos

There’s an unassuming and yet radiant aura about singer songwriter, Ami Faku. The Port Elizabeth born crooner coos like someone with an...

09 Jul 2020

The Masterful sounds of Ms Muftic

Jazz vocalist Ziza Muftic is a masterful songstylist. A South African raised in Croatia, Muftic embodies a triple heritage vortex of...

08 Jul

Oscar-winning composer Ennio Morricone, 91, dies

Ennio Morricone, one of the world's best-known and most prolific film composers, died in Rome on Monday.

06 Jul

Making Grace Amazing: Songs of resistance

Reminiscent of the Negro spirituals of the South, the song; Amazing Grace has long been a beloved companion, offering encouragement in...

07 Jul

Vintage Mazwai Magic: Better than great

Few singer songwriters can claim the space that Thandiswa Mazwai commands in our national consciousness. She is a keeper of a sacred...

06 Jul

Collier croons and plays the cold away

Multi Grammy award winning singer-songwriter Jacob Collier's idiosyncratic use of reharmonisation proves why he's this year headline act...

29 Jun

Zoë Modiga's "Inganekwane" reflects on the myth of blackness

Inganekwane, the singer-songwriters sophomore solo album, marks a creative and linguistic turning point as she embraces her mother-tongue.

26 Jun

'If I stopped making violins, life for me would be over'

Working in the shadow of the great masters, the violin-makers of Italy's Cremona are valiantly fighting a shrinking market.

05 Jul

WATCH | Barcelona plants enjoy a day at the opera

The lights dim, the curtain rises and the music begins -- all signs normal life has returned to Barcelona's Liceu opera house, were the...

05 Jul

Musicians in Australia's remote far north find new fans online amid virus shutdown

Musician Andrew Gurruwiwi usually performs for a few hundred people, now the audience has swelled to nearly 120 000.

16 Jun 2020

Water from an Ancient Well: Abdullah Ibrahim's Japanese cosmology

Abdullah Ibrahim has a conversation with Atiyyah Khan about his ikigai, a Japanese term that describes the thing you want to do when you...

10 Jun 2020

Musicians perform a virtual gala in Covid-19 lockdown

Leader of the Metropolitan Opera and Philadelphia Orchestra used his time in isolation to achieve an artistic triumph that touched...

13 Jun

Vienna's adult peep show venues turned into music stages amid pandemic

At a Vienna peep show, all the usual trappings are in evidence - from mirrors and red velvet to soft lighting - but coronavirus has led...

13 Jun

Wuhan, China's punk capital, grows silent amid the pandemic

Wuhan is arguably China's punk capital, its historically feisty reputation reflected in the writhing mosh pits and live venues of a...

04 Jun

Vienna State Opera will reopen with only 100 guests per show

The renowned Vienna State Opera will re-open its doors from next Monday -- with 100 guests per show in line with anti-coronavirus...

04 Jun