Ancient Voices and Friends

Members: Lungiswa Plaatjies, Nomapostile Nyiki, Sarah Evans, Matthijs van Dijk, Kim Masala, Brydon Bolton

Ancient Voices and Friends is a network of old and new collaborators, coming together for the first time to distil their diverse musical skills into a fresh new offering.  Drawn together by the Kanna Award-winning duo Ancient Voices (Lungiswa Plaatjies and Nomapostile Nyiki) this collective focuses a spotlight on the bridging power of music, aiming to showcase the beauty of what can happen when we share our cultural traditions in mutual, respectful, and imaginative ways.

As seasoned performers both locally and internationally, Ancient Voices has a passion for reviving and promoting Indigenous African music. With a particular interest in lesser-known instruments such as the umrhube and uhadi, they strive to spread awareness and appreciation of their cultural heritage as a means of spiritual upliftment. Their long-time collaborator Kim Masala, from the highly acclaimed, vibrant Afro-fusion band Abavuki, joins to contribute his exceptional blend of power and sensitivity on marimba and percussion.

Lungiswa met the viola player Sarah Evans working together on Neo Muyanga’s operetta The Flower of Shembe in 2012. This connection has fostered a decade of collaboration and friendship, resulting in regular performances together with Samro Award-winning composer Matthijs van Dijk and others. Highlights include shows at the International Mozart Festival in Johannesburg in 2018, and at the Makhanda National Arts festival in 2019 (as part of the Night Light Collective/Shh..Art Ensemble). Matthijs’s unmatched improvisation and arrangement skills add a warm, lush harmonic texture, allowing the Western string instruments to contribute seamlessly and delicately to the collective sound of the group.  Bringing it on the bass line, Brydon Bolton (from the hypnotic improvisation group Benguela) adds his deep and comprehensive experience as a seasoned performer of diverse genres, and is no stranger to the broad skillset needed to successfully blend Indigenous African and Western Classical musical languages.

Through the process of combining these languages, our music has manifested into different forms via different methods - we play compositions by individual members of the group, collectively workshopped ideas, free improvisations, as well as traditional numbers re-imagined.  As South African musicians, we are striving to acknowledge our history, engage our present, and offer a unique collective vision of our future.