Latest news with #StandardBankYoungArtistAward
Daily Maverick
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Maverick
Award-winning SA musicians continue carving unique artistic identities at National Arts Festival
Standard Bank Young Artist Award recipients in the jazz and music categories are set to give attendees an immersive South African experience. The richness of South African music cannot be understated. From the catchy sounds of amapiano to the hypnotic characteristics and use of the guitar in isicathamiya, the sonics in Mzansi have a special evocative quality to them. This can also be said of South African jazz and other folk music. This year's Standard Bank Young Artist Award recipients in the jazz and music categories respectively pay great homage to this depth. 'What I've come to learn and appreciate about South African jazz is the joy it brings to people who listen to it,' says Siyasanga (Siya) Charles, the jazz award recipient. The tenor and bass trombonist, composer and arranger, who is currently based in New York, speaks highly of how South Africa's expression of the American imported genre translates beyond our shores. 'We have so much joy in our music. It's very uplifting and carries a powerful message. Our music has depth. It's not just about sounding good. It really has a message to uplift and make people aware of the times we are living in.' The FirstRand Laurie Dippenaar laureate comes from a family of self-taught musicians, and Charles also taught herself to play the piano. Her late mother was a fervent supporter of her musical career, encouraging her to study towards a bachelor of music degree in jazz trombone performance at the University of Cape Town. 'Having a supportive family and a community that pushes you to be the best version of yourself is invaluable. It has really helped me to be confident in what I do and realise the importance of community.' When it comes to valuing one's community, the same can be said for the Standard Bank Young Artist award recipient in the music category, Muneyi Masibigiri, known professionally by the mononym Muneyi. He was inspired by his grandmother. 'She's my biggest inspiration and longest-standing muse. She is also my primary parent, so just being raised by her and being loved in the way she has loved me has made me this person – and this person I am has led to the artist I am.' His debut project, Makhulu, broke him into the South African mainstream consciousness, and he hasn't looked back. He is a multifaceted artist, songwriter, composer and guitarist who combines Tshivenda folktales and modern sounds to transcend language. Muneyi is a sonic archivist who uses music to preserve and promote his language – a task he takes very personally. 'It's important as part of my identity. I don't want to wake up one day and find that there isn't any preservation of my language, culture and identity.' In a country that has been known to be divided along ethnic lines, his use of his talent distinguishes him as an artist and elevates his work beyond enjoyment – perfectly aligning with Charles's point on South African jazz. This heritage is something that is passed on over generations. Both musicians have strong feelings about the role mentorship has played in carving this aspect of their artistic identity. 'I would be nothing without some of my mentors. Some of the stuff, you can't really learn it at an educational institution, but even in those you can find [people] who believe in you and want to protect you, because the music industry isn't a nice place sometimes,' explains Charles, a magna cum laude graduate of The Juilliard School. Muneyi echoes this. 'It's been really important, especially in managing expectations and emotions. [South African composer and singer] Msaki has been an anchor, as have other friends who have been in the spaces for longer and who have held my hand, even if it's just a few words, or watching them do what they do, so someone like Robin Fassie… Zoë Modiga as well.' Both recipients have had their time in the jungle that is the music industry and emphasise protection. The exposure of the path taken brings the societal pressures that most can avoid to the forefront. For Muneyi it's his sexuality, as he is openly gay. But his experience has been unique, mainly because of his style. 'I don't think I am treated any differently and I wonder if it's because I am not so explicit about my queerness in my work,' he reflects. '[Maybe that] has a big impact on that. But even with the release of my For The Boys I Like EP, the most that came from that was people relating to the work as opposed to any focus on my queerness. 'It can be tricky, because on one end I want to be seen as a whole being, black, queer, talented, etc, and on the other hand it's good that I am just celebrated for my work.' Art has a way of cutting through prejudice and biases that day-to-day life cannot. Whether it's in relation to sex, sexuality or race, the transcendence of this human expression stands head and shoulders above the mundane things that differentiate us for all the wrong reasons. Music does this in a unique way. Soundscapes pierce through and pull at our emotional strings, paving the way for fresh perspectives and ideas. 'My journey as a woman in jazz has had its ups and downs,' Charles explains. 'I have found communities that see you first as a musician. A musician is a musician. No one is going to treat you as less than because you're a woman.' What both artists pride themselves in is taking ownership of their journey regardless of the environment or of the preconceived notions others have. This is a certainty that both are bringing to the stage when they perform at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, from 26 June to 6 July. What can fans expect? 'A musical diary of the kind of music that has influenced me as a person and as a musician,' says Charles. 'I believe in using music to venerate the people that you love, more specifically the people who are no longer with us…' Fans of Muneyi can also expect full immersion into his world. 'Oh, it's going to be very honest, very exciting and mostly just a full introduction of me to the world, without any constraints, without time limits – 90 minutes is a long time – and just knowing that everyone on that chair is there for me. I want to pour my entire heart out and leave nothing.' DM
The Citizen
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Trombonist Siyasanga ‘Siya' Charles excited to come back home for the National Arts Festival
Trombonist, composer and arranger Siyasanga 'Siya' Charles is the Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for Jazz. On a Thursday evening in April, some of the country's foremost artists gathered in Bryanston, Johannesburg, as this year's Standard Bank Young Artist Awards (SBYA) winners were announced. Trombonist, composer and arranger Siyasanga 'Siya' Charles was named the SBYA for Jazz. A prestigious award, considering that all six recipients from different disciplines — dance, jazz, theatre, visual art, poetry and music — receive national exposure, financial support for their work, and a cash prize. However, there was some uncertainty when Charles' name was announced as the recipient for jazz, because some in the room weren't aware of her and her work. However, those who know, knew who Charles is. 'There were some fellow members of the South African Jazz community who were also Standard Bank Artist alums, such as Sisonke Xonti, Thandi Ntuli and Dr Nduduzo Makhathini, who presented the award to me and who I've had the honour and pleasure of working with in the past,' Charles says to The Citizen. 'He [Makhatini] also produced my debut single, so there were a couple of people in the South African jazz fraternity who knew of me.' ALSO READ: Nduduzo Makhathini on spiritual understandings anchoring his music and remaining modest Siya Charles' homecoming With most of her career spent outside of South Africa, this is likely the reason why she is not widely known and celebrated in Mzansi. She has been a professional musician for over a decade. Currently based in New York City, Charles enrolled for a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Trombone Performance at the University of Cape Town (UCT) which she finished in 2012 and then completed a Bachelor of Music (Honours) degree in Jazz Trombone Performance cum laude also at UCT the following year. In 2022, she received the opportunity to study for her jazz master's in music at The Juilliard School and graduated magna Cum Laude last year. Charles has worked with many greats, including the late Hugh Masekela and Grammy Award-winning musicians Ulysses Owens Jr and Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers alum Geoffrey Keezer. She spent a significant portion of her 20s travelling and forming connections worldwide, working with musicians in Europe and the US. 'I did receive a lot of welcoming [aboard]. I do believe in going where you are appreciated. I think that's very important as an artist to be surrounded by a supportive community. As much as I have experienced that in parts of Europe and New York, I am also excited to come back home and plant my roots in the South African jazz scene because it's been a while since I've been away,' she shared. Charles started attending the National Arts Festival in her teens. 'This year will be the 20-year mark of my time at the National Arts Festival and Youth Festival,' she said. She has performed at the National Youth Jazz Festival, played in the Standard Bank Schools Big Band in 2006 and 2007, and has also been part of the national youth jazz band in 2010 and 2012. This year's National Arts Festival will be held from 26 June to 6 July in Makhanda. Charles says it has sunk in that she's a recipient of the award, describing the win as a 'huge honour', and says she didn't expect the award since she's a person who is comfortable being in the background. 'I didn't think I'd be acknowledged in this manner, but I have to give a big thank you to Alan Webster who is the director of the national youth jazz festival, he has witnessed my growth over the last 20 years as a trombonist-he really advocated for me to win the award,' said the musician. She wants to use the award to champion other musicians who are women. ALSO READ: Lamiez Holworthy cancels work commitments due to illness Missing home She has performed on various stages, including the Arcevia Jazz Feast in Italy and Sweden's Stockholm Jazz Festival. Like most South African expats, Charles says she misses food from home the most. 'Nothing like South African home-cooked food, I definitely miss the food. I do miss Ubuntu, one thing that South Africans have is: we are so kind,' said Charles, speaking from the US. She says in New York, everyone is focused on what they want to do. Her goal is to be bi-continental, where she can work and collaborate with musicians from various parts of the world, while also giving back. 'My goal is to establish jazz education programs, which can also combine as feeding programs where kids can go to a couple of workshops, receive a warm cooked meal and learn some music.' ALSO READ: SA Gen Z's love for new-age Maskandi and Americans' craze over Amazayoni music Importance of education Formal education is usually frowned upon in the creative space, with artists preferring to lean on the flow of their creative juices. Charles, who admits to being a bit of a nerd, says she sees the value of formal education despite having interacted with legends who received no formal education. 'For me, I just wanted to develop certain skills that I may not have been able to have, had I not gone for formal training,' said the artist. She began attending the National Youth Jazz Festival at the age of 15, where she participated in workshops that explored the intricacies of jazz. 'I learnt a lot of skills going to school, firstly at the University of Cape Town. I was able to learn composition and arranging skills, something that I enjoy doing very much,' the composer shares. Through formal training, she has acquired skills in writing charts properly, being a band leader, and other elements that make up the ecosystem of music. All these teachings, she says, help one with longevity in the industry. ALSO READ: Simthande Myeza 'abducted and robbed' during e-hailing trip: TikToker's family speaks Still very much an artist She is both talented and has acquired formal training, a skill not many musicians possess. 'It is a skill to balance the creative with the cerebral. I am quite a cerebral person,' says Charles. In her performance at the Standard Bank Jazz Festival, just before performing one of her songs, Ascension, she mentioned that the song had come to her in a dream. Formal education has not stifled her creativity. 'I enjoy the technicalities of it [music] but I think it's amazing that I have this source that is outside of myself where I'm able to hear these melodies in my sleep,' shares Charles. She says her musicianship is linked to her faith, especially her compositions. 'A lot of the songs I hear them while I'm asleep, I see them as like musical downloads from the hereafter.' The beauty of the balance she strikes between the creative and the intellectual allows her to create musical notations after 'downloading' them in her dreams. '…cause sometimes you'll hear a song, and you don't write it down, it just disappears into the ether where it came from, so I've learnt how to balance the creative with the cerebral.' ALSO READ: 'Bucket list checked': Zakes Bantwini graduates from Harvard New music There are snippets and fragments of Charles' music online, particularly her live performances, but there's only one song available on streaming platforms. 'I've been very much focused on my studies, and now that I've graduated, I'm set to record my debut album between sometime this year and next year.' She says the music and the personnel are there; it's just a matter of making time to go into the studio. Charles's grandfather was a self-taught musician, despite never recording music. Her only song on streaming platforms, KwaLanga, is an ode to him. 'There isn't any documented work of his playing, but that song I dedicated to him, and there are a couple of songs that I've written, dedicated to family members that I love very much who are no longer with us,' she said. She will perform some of these compositions when she takes the stage at the National Art Festival. NOW READ: 'Black Women and Sex': South African filmmaker wins at American Black Film Festival
Time Out
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Events: What's on in Johannesburg
The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival returns to the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, for its most ambitious edition yet — three full days of genre-defining performances, global icons, bold collaborations, and an elevated celebration of jazz's enduring legacy. With over 60 artists from 15 countries across four stages, this year's festival puts a spotlight on powerful women in jazz, visionary Pan-African sounds, and cutting-edge global talent. Highlights include Esperanza Spalding, Lakecia Benjamin, Oumou Sangaré, Meshell Ndegeocello, Thandi Ntuli, Jazzmeia Horn, The Baylor Project, Amanda Black, Tresor, and a full showcase of Standard Bank Young Artist Award winners. From soul-stirring solo sets to orchestral grandeur, audiences will experience an immersive musical journey rooted in African heritage and shaped by contemporary voices from across the world.
Mail & Guardian
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Mail & Guardian
Modise Sekgothe's poetry of transformation
My word: Modise Sekgothe has been given the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Poetry — the second recipient in four decades. In a quiet moment on an otherwise ordinary afternoon, Modise Sekgothe found out he had been selected as only the second poet to win the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Poetry in its 40-year history. 'I was in the house writing,' he tells me when we speak at an event introducing this year's winners to the media. 'Then I got the message.' In a poignant twist of fate, this news arrived only two weeks after he had experienced an intensely personal loss —the death of his mother. 'There was something very powerful about this important moment finding me in this other important moment,' he says reflectively. 'It's a heavy thing to think about but there was kind of a beautiful balance between great sorrow and great appreciation for life. 'It was almost like it connected me with my mother because, if you know anything about ancestry, you understand that the people that came before you continue to contribute to your life. And I feel in many ways like my mother had a hand in this moment in my life.' Koleka Putuma was the first to win the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Poetry in 2022. 'I think this award affirms my work as an individual but more significantly it affirms the work we have been doing as the poetry community,' Sekgothe says. 'Because this award is 40 years old, and there have been a lot of amazing poets that have come out of South Africa in that time, but it shows that poetry was not seen as a performance art for a long time. 'But it was the poets that came before us that laid the foundation for us as the poets of this generation to be recognised in this way.' Sekgothe traces his creative lineage to literary giants such as Keorapetse Kgositsile and Lesego Rampolokeng who carved the path for his generation. He honours the voices closer to his time too —Mutle Mothibe and Tumi Molekane — poets whose work helped shape his own evolving voice. But his influences stretch beyond the traditional page. With equal admiration, he points to underground rap luminaries Hymphatic Thabs and Robo The Technician as artists who left a lasting imprint on his poetic style 'Poetry and underground rap music are two worlds that have influenced me greatly and helped shape my evolution as a performer.' Born and raised in Soweto, 33-year-old Sekgothe is an award-winning poet, actor, vocalist and percussionist whose work spans mediums and movements. Though he holds a degree in psychology and linguistics, he has consistently turned to writing as his central medium. 'I've always been creative. I've always been writing. I've always, you know, made my albums, did my shows with whatever budget I had.' He's no stranger to being recognised for his creative excellence, having received several accolades including the Word N Sound Innovation in Poetry Award (2015 and 2016), the WNS Showcase of the Year Award (2014 and 2015) and the WNS Perfect Poem Award (2015) for his piece To Die Before You Die. To describe Sekgothe simply as a poet would be to miss the layers of his work. He is a performer, a sound artist and — perhaps most profoundly — a healer. His background in psychology subtly shapes his practice, allowing him to delve into emotional and existential terrains with depth and care. 'Psychology is a modality of healing and art is a modality of healing,' he explains. 'Of finding ways to delve deep into your own psyche and making sense of what it is to be human.' This therapeutic ethos is woven into his performances. At a recent event — the Ah Men Series at the Inside Out Centre for the Arts in Joburg — Sekgothe explored the shifting landscapes of masculinity. 'It was kind of tackling issues of masculinity and making sense of what manhood is in this current time,' he says. 'Challenging the expectations and really asking questions about what it really means to be a man, to be a South African man.' He doesn't shy away from the difficult truths: 'As complicated as it is, to be part of a group of men that are among the highest in rape statistics in the world — what makes the South African man that kind of man?' It's in asking these uncomfortable, but necessary, questions that Sekgothe believes poetry can do more than entertain. It can illuminate, confront and transform. His performances are not mere readings, they are immersive experiences. He uses a loop pedal to create what he calls 'sonic soundscapes', layering vocalisations to build textured backdrops for his words. 'Part of my performativity is there's this kind of musical element to what I do.' The result is a hypnotic fusion of sound and speech that pulls audiences into the emotional core of his work. This ability to bridge the cerebral and the visceral is what sets Sekgothe apart. He brings the internal into the external, creating spaces where audiences can reflect on their own inner worlds: 'By way of all the work I do on myself,' he says, 'it sort of gives and triggers in other people … the opportunity to do that.' Sekgothe's work has been published in Home is Where the Mic is, an anthology by Botsotso Publishers. His audio work includes a poetry and music EP titled DIPOKO tsa DIPOKO and a solo album Meera Me. He has performed at festivals, both local and international, including the Split This Rock Poetry Festival in Washington, Speak Out Loud Festival in Pretoria and the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, where he'll be returning later this year as a Standard Bank Young Artist. He has also performed at Poets For Puerto Rico, Art All Night Festival, The Kennedy Center, Gothenburg Book Fair, Nobel Dialogue Week, and the Brussels Planetarium Poetry Festival. For Sekgothe, the Standard Bank Award is not a culmination but a catalyst. 'It becomes an opportunity to scale what I've been doing,' he says. 'To explore some of the big ideas I've had that I possibly didn't have the platforms or the infrastructure for.' The prize includes a production at the National Arts Festival. 'It's the only thing I care about right now,' he admits, hinting at a work-in-progress that is as ambitious as it is intimate. 'I'm immersed in that process.' His artistic journey has been anything but conventional. Though he began exploring poetry while studying at university, it was never part of the curriculum. 'When I wasn't in the lecture hall, I was either in the poetry space or in the theatre,' he says. This dual life — academic by day, artist by passion — eventually resolved itself into a singular path. 'For the past 10 years, except for about two years when I lived abroad, I've worked full time as a writer and performer.' The work he's producing now builds on that foundation but aspires to something even more expansive. 'How far can the message that I've been sort of grappling with reach?' he asks. It's a question that speaks to his deepening sense of responsibility, not just as an artist but as a cultural worker attuned to the pain and potential of his community. And though his mother won't be at the awards evening in the flesh, her presence lingers. I ask him what he would tell her about this moment if she was here. 'I don't think it would be about the telling more than it would be about her presence,' he says. 'It would be more about her getting the opportunity to see what this odd sort of work I've dedicated my entire life to has made possible for me. 'To see the magnitude of this work and how meaningful it is for me would speak far more profoundly than anything I could say to her. 'And so it's unfortunate that she will not be at the festival in her actual physical presence but I believe very much that she's here now and she will continue to be by my side.' Modise Sekgothe stands at a powerful intersection of poetry and psychology, grief and celebration, introspection and outward impact. He is a poet, yes, but also a cartographer of the soul, guiding others through language and sound toward deeper understanding. In his hands, art becomes not just expression, but exhalation, excavation and ultimately, healing.
