By Staff Reporter
This July, Carnegie Hall’s critically-acclaimed national youth jazz orchestra, NYO Jazz, led by artistic director/trumpeter Sean Jones, returns for its seventh season of extraordinary music-making and embarks on its first-ever tour to South Africa from 22 July to 5 August. This remarkable ensemble, created by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI) in 2018, annually brings together 22 of the most outstanding teen jazz musicians from across the United States to train, perform, and tour with some of the world’s greatest artists while also serving as music ambassadors, sharing America’s greatest artform with audiences around the globe. This year, vocalist Alicia Olatuja, who has been praised by The New York Times as “a singer with a strong and luscious tone,” joins NYO Jazz for their annual Carnegie Hall concert and on tour.
Following a concert by NYO Jazz at Carnegie Hall in New York on 20 July, the ensemble will depart for their South African tour. Having performed at some of the most prestigious concert halls and music festivals across Europe, Asia, and the United States, the South African tour marks the first time that one of Carnegie Hall’s three acclaimed national youth ensembles will perform on the African continent. The highly anticipated visit to local shores includes debut performances in Johannesburg (The Market Theatre on 26, 27 and 28 July); Durban (The Playhouse on 1 August); and Cape Town (Artscape on 2 & 3 August).
The South African guest artists just announced to join NYO Jazz on stage represent some of the country’s finest talent: saxophonist Linda Sikhakhane and bassist Romy Brauteseth in Johannesburg; pianist Afrika Mkhize, as well as the Shine Jazz Ensemble, directed by Dr. Natalie Rungan, showcasing musicians from the top 10 school music ensembles from the KwaZulu-Natal province, as the opening act in Durban; and trumpeter Muneeb Hermans in Cape Town.
For NYO Jazz’s 2024 concerts, Carnegie Hall has commissioned a new work, titled ISIGQI SUITE, by South African composer Sibusiso Mash Mashiloane which he noted “showcases the essence of South African jazz and the profound emotional connection to our collective musical heritage.” The ensemble’s diverse program will also include big band classics by Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and Mary Lou Williams; a new big band arrangement from Terri Lyne Carrington’s project “New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Women Composers”, Lakecia Benjamin’s “Trane,” arranged by Jhoely Garay; and other contemporary pieces, showcasing jazz as a living and limitless art form.
NYO Jazz’s 2024 tour offers America’s finest young musicians the opportunity to experience the richness of South Africa’s culture and history while sharing their remarkable artistry with audiences throughout the country. Complementing their performances, the players’ schedule will also include exciting opportunities for cultural exchange and peer-to-peer activities with local young people, an element that has become a hallmark of international tours by all three of Carnegie Hall’s national youth ensembles. Click here to watch a video on the impact of cultural exchange within Carnegie Hall’s national youth ensembles.
“The South African Consulate General in New York is grateful to Carnegie Hall for putting together this year’s NYO Jazz trip to South Africa, which will allow the selected young musicians from the US to go and experience the vibrant South African cultural landscape, while also immersing in the creative tapestry that South Africans have to offer to the world,” said Mzwanele Langa, the Consul-in-Charge at the South African Consulate General in New York.
NYO Jazz’s exchange activities in South Africa will include a tour of Johannesburg and Soweto, followed by a welcome reception with the South African Association for Jazz Education (Wednesday, 24 July); a visit to the the Apartheid Museum and then to the Morris Isaacson Centre for Music(Thursday, 25 July); workshops with students and educators at the SAJE Annual Conference at the University of the Witwatersrand (Friday, 26 July and Saturday, 27 July); attending a concert at the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Wednesday, 31 July); and a workshop with local students at Durban High School (Thursday, 1 August).
“We are excited for NYO Jazz to make its South Africa debut this July, the first visit to Africa by any of our national youth ensembles,” said Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall.
“Given South Africa’s extraordinarily rich music traditions, including a deep passion for jazz, we know this tour will be a life changing cultural experience for the band members as they engage in peer-to-peer exchange activities with local musicians and are joined on stage by some of the country’s leading artists.
We look forward to showcasing the incredible depth of talent among the players in NYO Jazz and the high level of musicianship found across the United States as we connect with music lovers of all ages.”
NYO Jazz’s 2024 South Africa Tour is produced by Arte Viva Management.
Click here to view the NYO Jazz South Africa tour video trailer.
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About NYO Jazz
Each July, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute brings together the finest young players from across the United States (ages 16–19) to form NYO Jazz. Led by artistic director Sean Jones, shines a spotlight on the depth of talent found among teen jazz players across the United States. The program offers talented young musicians the opportunity to perform as cultural ambassadors for their country, sharing a uniquely American musical genre with people around the world. The members of NYO Jazz have been recognized by Carnegie Hall as among the finest jazz musicians in the country following a rigorous and highly competitive audition process.
Since its debut in 2018, NYO Jazz has performed at Carnegie Hall and embarked on acclaimed tours across Europe, Asia, and the United States. The ensemble has been invited to perform at prestigious concert halls and music festivals, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; Konzerthaus in Berlin; National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing; The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC; BBC Proms in London; Festival da Jazz in St. Moritz; Edinburgh International Festival and the Lucerne Festival, among many others. Guest artists in past seasons have included vocalists Dianne Reeves, Kurt Elling, Jazzmeia Horn, and Dee Dee Bridgewater. As part of their travel schedule, NYO Jazz musicians have opportunities to meet and collaborate with young local musicians and experience the richness of different cultures and music.
In 2021, the band recorded its first full-length studio albumunder Mr. Jones’s direction with special guest saxophonist Melissa Aldana. It includes Carnegie Hall–commissioned works for the ensemble from each year of the program, exploring themes that include social justice, resilience, and the power of music to spark joy. The album, entitled We’re Still Here, was released in 2022.
NYO Jazz builds on the success of the acclaimed National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) and its sister ensemble for younger musicians, NYO2, programs created by Carnegie Hall in 2013 and 2016, respectively, to bring together the finest young classical musicians from across the country each year for training, performances, and international touring. Each of these prestigious national programs, free to all participants, is dedicated to the proposition that talented young musicians thrive when given the opportunity to expand their musical, social, and cultural horizons and share their artistry with audiences around the globe.
Click here for the complete roster of musicians.
Click here to see a full list of this year’s faculty, as well as biographies for Sean Jones and Alicia Olatuja.
About Carnegie Hall’s History of Presenting South African Music and Artists
Presenting South African music and artists has long been a priority for Carnegie Hall. Throughout the decades, the Hall has showcased the exceptional and diverse music and culture of South Africa in its three concert halls and through the music education and social impact programs of the Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI). In 2003, WMI used distance technology to livestream simultaneous concerts for students in Johannesburg and New York City. The celebrated Hugh Masekela and his band performed in South Africa, collaborating with the Boys and Girls Choir of Harlem and special guests who performed in the newly opened Zankel Hall. Masekela performed at the Hall many times, including a 2014 concert with singer-songwriter Vusi Mahlasela, part of the Hall’s citywide festival UBUNTU: Music and Arts of South Africa. Additional South African musicians who have performed at the Hall have included Pretty Yende, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Abdullah Ibrahim, David Kramer, and the 15-voice male choir Young Cape Malay Stars.
Building on the success of the UBUNTU festival, and to mark the 30th anniversary of South Africa’s first democratic elections, Carnegie Hall’s 2024-2025 season will feature several of the country’s leading musicians. Highlights include cellist Abel Selaocoe and his Bantu Ensemble; the Ndlovu Youth Choir; the Carnegie Hall debut of jazz pianist Nduduzo Makhathini, and a not-to-be-missed collaboration featuring two of South Africa’s foremost singer-songwriters: Zolani Mahola and Jesse Clegg.
“This important platform provided by Carnegie Hall to the South African musicians does not only help to enhance the individual talents of the selected musicians, but also provides an opportunity to further strengthen the existing people-to-people relations between the US and South African citizens, thereby also contributing to the vibrant bilateral relations that both countries share,” said Mzwanele Langa from the South African Consulate General in New York.
To learn more please visit: carnegiehall.org/NYOJazz.
To learn more about NYO Jazz, visit carnegiehall.org/NYOJazz
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