Learn to play the bow
Hands-on demonstrations of this instrument will take place at the BAT Centre. Buy tickets at the door
FREE bow music workshops and hands-on demonstrations of this instrument will take place at the BAT Centre on Saturday, 1 September, as part of the second International Bow Music Conference which takes place at the University of KwaZulu-Natal from Wednesday, 29 August to Saturday, 1 September.
Hosted by the School of Arts Performing Arts cluster and curated by an international team led by Dr Sazi Dlamini, UKZN’s renowned music scholar and well-known township jazz exponent, the 2018 event is being held in conjunction with the 12th South African Society for Research in Music (SASRIM) Conference to present a diverse programme of paper presentations, workshops, select musical performances and documentary film screenings.
The gathering has attracted a wide-ranging interest of local and international music researchers, bow music enthusiasts and players alike. A keynote address will be given by Gerhard Kubik, Austrian cultural anthropologist and music ethnologist, titled ‘Musical bows and the spirit of human discovery’ which will be read by Prof Andrew Tracey, celebrated South African ethnomusicologist, Emeritus Professor of African Music and composer.
One of the conference highlights is a day-long programme, on Saturday 1 September at Durban’s BAT Centre, which includes free bow music workshops and hands-on demonstrations, a musical bow instrument mini-market, an Afro-Brazilian percussion workshop and a demo/talk performance by Colin Offord, the Australian mouthbow inventor and performer. The workshops begin at 10am and run until 3pm. No booking is needed.
The afternoon will culminate in a conference closing concert from 3pm, featuring an array of top local and international musical bow performers.
Among them are
- Madosini (Cape) – umrhubhe, uhadi, sitolotolo;
- Bavikile Ngema (KZN) – makhweyana, mbheleza/mqangala;
- Prof Greg Beyer and Arcomusical Brazil (USA and Brazil) – berimbau chamber ensemble;
- Rafael Mathusi and Maneto Tefula (Mozambique) – xizambi, xipendani, xitende, kankubwe;
- Cathrina Make Magagula (Swaziland) – makhweyane;
- Mpho Molikeng (Lesotho) – lesiba, sekhankule;
- Cara Stacey and Jason Finkelman (SA and USA) – umakhweyana, umrhubhe, berimbau and electronics;
- Mtumbateka Mamatsharanga (Northern Province) – dende.
Tickets for the closing concert are R60 and R30 for students. Buy tickets at the door.
Registration for the conference takes place via the SASRIM portal online: https://www.sasrim.ac.za/registration/
For the full programme and other information go to www.bowconference.com or email info@bowconference.com
