The UCT Ibuyambo Orchestra is hosting Camagu, a special 2-night concert to honour the career of musician and one of Dizu Plaatjies. As a Professor of African Music at the South African College of Music and an artist in his own right, Dizu The tribute production tips a hat to his tenure at the University of Cape Town.
The UCT Ibuyambo Orchestra is a 25-member pan-African ensemble that brings together a wide and representative range of African musical instruments.
The rich cultural legacy of Dizu Plaatjies
Dizu Plaatjies is one of South Africa’s leading traditional artists and cultural historians. He is the founder of the music group Ibuyambo and former leader of the globally celebrated traditional group, Amampondo, who recorded and toured locally and internationally in the 1980s and 1990s.
The son of a traditional healer, Plaatjies’s early upbringing in Lusikisiki, and later in Langa, Cape Town, immersed him in Mpondo culture and traditions. His ability to revive, revamp and communicate old cultural practices has led to countless engagements locally and abroad.
In 1997 after Amampondo’s international tour, Dizu returned to South Africa and began lecturing African dance and music at UCT. He and his group visited Sweden and Norway in 1998 by invitation of the governments to conduct traditional music sessions in educational institutions in their countries. He has been encouraged by great artists and internationally acclaimed people from all walks of life, among others: Evaristo Muyinda the great composer of the Buganda, the Austrian Dr Gehard Kubik, transcriber of Ugandan music who specialises in Amadinda xylophone, and the great Cuban drummer Changuito. His compositions and arrangements of traditional songs appear on seven albums by Amampondo.
After over 15 years of touring with Amampondo, he recorded his debut solo album in 2005 entitled ‘Ibuyambo’. His second solo recording ‘African Kings’ is a project fusing traditional southern African instruments such as mbira, uhadi, umrhube, akadinda and maskanda guitar. The album won the ‘Best Alternative African Album’ at the 2009 South African Music Awards (SAMA).
In 2016, he released a record that fuses African and Western instruments. The recording features the Ibuyambo Ensemble along with guest artists, guitarists Derek Gripper and Allou April from Cape Town, French/Chillian duo Sueno en la Fabrica, French jazz ensemble L’Arbe Canapas, and Dutch drummer Lucan van Merwijk. The album is a mixture of contemporary jazz-rock and traditional African compositions.
Dizu regards his work in communities, educational institutions and with many visiting scholars, as a challenge to the present and future governments to respect and conserve the traditional heritage of the people; and to see the world through the eyes of the people.
Cost: R120pp for adults, R90pp for pensioners 60+, R50pp for scholars, and UCT students are offered free entry subject to availability. Book via Webtickets
When: Friday, 17 May and Saturday, 18 May 2024 at 7pm
Where: Concert Hall at the Baxter Theatre, Main Rd, Rondebosch, Cape Town
Website: humanities.uct.ac.za
Email: concerts@uct.ac.za
Instagram: @uct_sacm
Facebook: @sacollegeofmusic