Invoking South African Histories

Thokozani Mhlambi

This episode features cellist, composer, and scholar Dr. Thokozani Mhlambi, who talks about the role of radio, music traditions as cultural archives, and music performance in the context of South Africa. He discusses and shares excerpts of his “Zulu Song Cycle” and the production “Hail to the King” about Dingane kaSenzangakhona. Recorded at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.

In conversation with

Thokozani Mhlambi

Dr Thokozani Ndumiso Mhlambi is a creative musician, songwriter, researcher, and cultural pioneer born in Madadeni, KwaZulu-Natal. Mhlambi holds a PhD in Music from the University of Cape Town with a thesis on “Early radio broadcasting in South Africa: culture, modernity & technology.” Drawing his inspiration from various folk music traditions, he plays the baroque cello blending engaging performances with critical thought. He has performed at various performance spaces across South Africa such as the National Art Festival, Baxter Theatre, Soweto Theatre, and the State Theatre in Pretoria. At the University of Cape Town, Mhlambi won the African Studies Prize and is associated as the NRF Postdoctoral Fellow in Innovation at the Archive & Public Culture Research Initiative. His research interests include early African intellectuals as composers, South African and Zulu radio broadcasting, and South African urban music, to name a few. In 2019, he collaborated with SAVVY Contemporary and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, in the project „The Vulnerable Archive.” In 2020, he was chosen as an Artist in-residence at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. In 2022-23, he was an Artist Fellow at the African Multiple Clusters at the University of Bayreuth in Germany.

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References Sounds Zulu Song Cycle – album by Thokozani Mhlambi, recorded in 2019 (more info) Princess Constance Magogo Sibilile Mantithi Ngangezinye kaDinuzulu (1900-1984) – princess by birth and famously known as composer, musician, and singer (more info) Credits Sounds Tracks from the album: Zulu Song Cycle (2018)

• Track 4 "Interlude - Bach Prelude D minor", Thokozani Mhlambi (Solo Baroque Cello)
• Track 2 "Ndemka (trad.)", Thokozani Mhlambi (Bow & Voice)
• Track 1 "Hamba Uyothela", Thokozani Mhlambi (Composer and Performer: Cello, Voice)

Uyi'ndlwane' mbana. Performed by Amabutu of the Buthelezi clan, composed by M. Nge'ngelele, 1955. International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. (full credits) Durban Beach Sound Field Recording, (Field Recording) A New Sensation of Life, Thokozani Mhlambi (Composer and Performer: Cello, Voice) Visuals Episode Cover, Thokozani Mhlambi, Photo by S. Zondo Special Thanks Kamogelo Molobye at the University of the Witwatersrand, School of Arts, where this episode was recorded.

Podcast Info Concept Dr. Layla Zami, Postdoctoral Researcher in Performance Studies Producer Freie Universität Berlin, Collaborative Research Center Intervening Arts (SFB 1512 Intervenierende Künste, TP B05) Funded by German Research Society (DFG) In Cooperation with FU Berlin, Institut für Theaterwissenschaft Eufoniker Audioproduktion