SA: World New Music Days fest starts 24 November!

The 10-day festival will feature more than 100 composers and 200 performers from 50 countries, with two historical milestones to its name: celebrating the centenary of the ISCM and marking the inaugural ISCM WNMD on the African continent. In addition to honouring ISCM WNMD’s century-old legacy, the festival will provide a platform for global connections and cultural exchange, making it a hub for new ideas, collaborations and artistic fusions.

First held Salzburg, Austria, in 1923, ISCM WNMD is a product of ISCM, a music forum whose mission is aimed at advancing and disseminating new music from around the world. The festival has been hosted in different countries including Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France, US, UK, Norway, Poland, Greece, Netherlands, China, South Korea, Japan, Sweden and New Zealand.

With a rich tapestry of compositions, ISCM WNMD 2023 will showcase the enormous diversity of music practice from South Africa and around the world. In addition to promoting contemporary music and strengthening musical life in local contexts, the event will mark NewMusicSA’s 20th anniversary. As the official South African member of ISCM, NewMusicSA is an important resource for composers and all those interested in new music.

“There are three programmatic pillars to the festival,” WNMD artistic director Lukas Ligeti said. “The first upholds the fundamental principle of ISCM World New Music Days, ensuring that at least one composition from each chapter organisation is performed. The second pays tribute to the festival’s historical significance by revisiting landmark works of the 20th and 21st centuries. Lastly, the third pillar highlights the festival’s distinctiveness by presenting a diverse selection of new, experimental and unconventional music connected to Africa.”

Programme highlights

The festival will kick off at Linder Auditorium in Johannesburg on 24 November with an orchestral concert by the Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra and Burkina Electric – a group primarily based in Ouagadougou that aims to bring new concepts to both Burkinabe music and Western club contemporary electronic dance culture by infusing computer-based performance with traditional instruments and fond sounds recorded in Burkina Faso. On the same day, guests will be treated to the ISCM WNMD Opening Party, in collaboration with Beats By Her at Untitled Basement in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, where Nonku Phiri & Malcolm Jiyane (South Africa), DJ Raph (Kenya) and singeli music makers Jay Mitta & Kadilida (Tanzania) will grace the event from 8pm to 2am.

The festival will emphasise the creative music landscape of Africa south of the Sahara with a special dedicated programme named Oluzayo – African Music Futures. Oluzayo, under the tutelage of US-based Zimbabwean conductor Vimbayi Kaziboni, was held in Cologne, Germany, from 31 May to 4 June 2023 to critical acclaim. In Johannesburg, the project will be unpacked over two days at The Forge and Untitled Basement (25 November) and the Centre for the Less Good Idea (26 November) before Oluzayo Ensemble Modern takes the Linder Auditorium stage on the evening of the 26th. The concert will feature, among others, Germany’s Ensemble Modern and the Education Africa Alumni All Stars Marimba Orchestra (South Africa) with Mark Stone and Dizu Plaatjies.

“Oluzayo explores music and sound as a field that reflects ... dissonances and possibilities – as well as the complex interconnections between Africa and Europe. The programme ranges from contemporary orchestral and ensemble music to sound art and electronic music, jazz and improvised music, transcultural mixtures and indigenous forms,” the organisers said.

In addition to a strong pan-African component, ISCM WNMD will include creative exchanges with Europe, entry into international markets and engagement with the diaspora. The festival, in collaboration with Ensemble Modern and local educational partners such as Music Is a Great Investment (MIAGI) and the Morris Isaacson Centre for Music (MICM), will conduct workshops and masterclasses as part of its community outreach campaign.

Audio-visual installations, sound art approaches and interdisciplinary dance collaborations will be part of the exchanges. The Forge in Braamfontein will host these exchanges, with artists such as Victor Gama (Angola), Stefan Poetzsch (Germany), Bettina Essaka (Cameroon/Germany), Aaron Bebe Sukura (Uganda) and Benjamin Boone (US) expected to take part.

Goethe-Institut Johannesburg will host an electronic music concert on 28 November, showcasing solo electronic musicians and fixed electronic works. The concert will feature 10 pieces selected via an ISCM WMND open call, making it the largest collection of contemporary music ever seen on the African continent.

In Soweto, the MICM will host African indigenous percussion and piano performances on 29 November. The concert will feature William Chapman Nyaho (Ghana), Mark Stone (US) and Esther Flückiger (Switzerland).

Besides Johannesburg, the festival will also feature musical performances in Cape Town and Muizenberg. The festival will also feature the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestras, Odeion String Quartet, Ancient Voices, Leon Bosch, Kathleen Tagg and Khanyisile Mthetwa as well as international acts like Umze Ensemble (Hungary), Akartia Trio & Casado-Croccolino Duo (Spain), Passepartout Duo (Italy/US) and Vertixe Sonora (Spain), among many others.

View the full programme below (PDF) or visit the official website. Tickets are available via Quicket.