SIBONGILE
KHUMALO
Sibongile Khumalo, the recipient of this years Performing Arts Award, has enchanted diverse audiences all over South Africa and internationally with her soulful and dynamic musical talents, ranging from traditional South African sounds to jazzy melodies.
A
multifaceted performer, Sibongile symbolizes different musical styles
to different people. To lovers of jazz she is the personification of jazz
and blues. To those who love opera her smooth soprano or alto tones are
enchanting. And those who like groovy, outdoor fun, will travel miles to
attend a festival where she is featured.
Sibongile’s immense musical
capacity launched her into the limelight when she won the Standard Bank
Young Artist Award at the Grahamstown Festival in 1993. She has since performed
with numerous celebrated groups and artists and has graced a variety of
honoured occasions, amongst them President Nelson Mandela’s 75th
Birthday and 1994 inauguration. She also led the South African national
anthem at the World Cup rugby finals in 1995.
Her versatile career to date includes her debut album, Ancient Evenings,
a magical journey through the rich tapestry of South African music culture.
More
recently, her third CD Immortal Secrets was released in May 2000 to
critical acclaim. Also
included in her resumé are her well-reviewed operatic debut as Carmen
(Bizet) in Durban; CD and televison recordings of Mzilikazi
Khumalo’s uShaka ka Senzangakhona; performing at the Two Nations
Celebrate concert honouring President Mandela (Royal Albert Hall, London);
and the SAA / Sibongile Khumalo national tour.
During April 1997, Sibongile
was the mezzo-soprano soloist in the Verdi Requiem under the baton
of Sir David Willcocks, during the South African tour of the London
Bach Choir, and that same year also performed Mahler with the National
Symphony Orchestra in Johannesburg.
Sibongile holds music degrees from the University of Zululand (B.A.Mus.)
And Wits University (B.A. Hons), as well as a Higher Diploma in Personnel
Management (Wits).
She has
taught and researched music at the University of Zululand, FUBA Academy
and at the Madimba Institute of African Music,
as well as acting in several musicals which toured Europe and the United
States.
Sibongile also has an active interest in the documentation and development of
South African music.
She has conceived and co-produced a retrospective of South
African jazz and, working with other African women, toured Europe in 1998 in
Women of Africa to rave reviews. And she has collaborated with Hugh Masekela
on a radio program on South African music, old and new.
South African Women for Women is proud to recognize Sibongile Khumalo for her
music and her performing artistry, which shares the spice, wisdom, and wealth
of experience inherited from her family and her community.