A 60-piece orchestra for Simphiwe Dana’s Symphony Experience

Simphiwe Dana’s Symphony Experience will see Africans from all parts of the continent and the diaspora coming together this month. In a South African first, much-lauded Afro-soul artist Dana will stage the event on November 26 at Kyalami’s Theatre on the Track.

The concert will feature two internationally acclaimed artists with roots in Africa – the melodically gracious Asa (Nigeria) and the imperiously vocal Concha Buika (Equatorial Guinea), who will add a wholesome sound to this auditory treat.

“South Africa has gone through a lot of changes with different emotions and experiences in the past three decades,” said Dana. “It has been a period of going through different phases of awareness, some of them overlapping. The music industry, as well, has undergone similar transitions, from bubblegum in the 1980s to kwaito in the 1990s and now, the difficult transition to a more sophisticated sound, what some choose to call Afro-jazz or Afro-soul.

“We have seen an explosion of this new sound brought about by the young people of this decade, which has brought a lot of attention from the international world.

“The distinct African identity and sophistication with which these young people have carried this legacy hopefully makes the mothers and fathers of South African jazz proud.” Dana added that she strongly believed that this was the kind of music that authenticated people, because pop exists in all communities of the world.

“However, it is usually this more sophisticated music that informs, maps out and defines the sounds of the future,” she added. “Basically, it is a cultural legacy we need to promote and preserve.”

Presented by MIAGI, the Simphiwe Dana Symphony Experience, in partnership with BET and Kaya FM, will feature a 60-piece orchestra, a choir with 30 singers and a dance troupe that will add an audiovisual spectacle to the performance.