Working the flute in front of the world

Khanyisile Mthetwa has been awarded the 2019 Myrna Brown International Scholarship by the National Flute Association of America and she will also be playing at the NFA Convention in August this year.

Born and raised in Orlando West, Soweto, Mthetwa started playing at a music project called ACOSA which was held on Saturdays at the Baragwanath Hospital Nurses’ College. From there she went to study at the National School of Arts and University of Pretoria.

She said, “My love for the flute was definitely instilled by my mother who loved choral music and my first teachers Gordon Mashobane, Martha Davel and John Hinch.”

Mthetwa studied music while in tertiary education and received a fellowship in flute performance from Trinity College of London. She said “It is crucial to do formal qualifications as it prepares you for all aspects of the music industry and what is expected for performance.

“I was drawn to this industry because I could not imagine myself doing anything else. I loved practising and working hard from the very beginning which makes the journey very enjoyable.”

The NFA awards is a scholarship given every two years to a flautist from outside the United States of America to attend the NFA Convention and present at the convention. Mthetwa said she was sent a link by a friend who lives in Brazil last year as the association was accepting applications. “It was a very stressful procedure sourcing South African music by living composers and learning all the pieces to submit on an audition tape. The NFA has very high performance and technical standards and I was thrilled when I got the email congratulating me that I was selected and would be travelling to Salt Lake City, Utah, to present a concert of only South African music at the NFA Convention.” This is the single largest gathering of flautists in the world.

She said she is inspired by many people in different fields, “Chi Chi Nwanoku who runs the first all-black orchestra and Thuli Madonsela in her unwavering and professional manner in how efficient she is at her job and search for the truth, to name a few.”

Mthetwa said The Atrium at Wits University is definitely a dream venue for solo recitals and she hopes to play in a lot of venues around the world. Her hopes and plans for the future are to participate in more concerts around the world and promote South African music.

The composers whose work she will be performing in Salt Lake City include Clare Loveday, Musa Nkuna, Conrad Asman and Hendrik Hofmeyr.