Role

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Composer

Birth

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1975

 

Bongani Ndodana-Breen is a South African composer of classical music who has gained international recognition for his works. Born on 27th October 1975 in Queenstown, South Africa, Ndodana-Breen grew up in a musical family. His father was a choir conductor, and his mother was a singer. Ndodana-Breen started playing the piano at the age of six and later learned to play the guitar and saxophone. Ndodana-Breen attended the University of Cape Town, where he studied composition under the tutelage of Peter Klatzow. He later earned a Master's degree in composition from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Ndodana-Breen's music is influenced by his African heritage, and he often incorporates African rhythms and melodies into his compositions. Ndodana-Breen's early works include "Three African Songs" for choir and "African Suite" for orchestra. These works showcase his use of African rhythms and melodies, and they have been performed by various ensembles in South Africa and abroad. In 2002, Ndodana-Breen was commissioned by the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra to compose a work for their 75th anniversary. The result was "Harvest: Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra," which features a solo marimba and draws on African rhythms and melodies. The work was premiered by the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra with soloist Magda de Vries and has since been performed by orchestras around the world. Ndodana-Breen's other notable works include "Three Nocturnes" for orchestra, "Uhambo: The Journey" for choir and orchestra, and "Weavings" for string quartet. In 2018, he composed "The Song of the Carnivores," an opera based on a children's book by J.M. Coetzee. The opera was premiered by the Cape Town Opera and has since been performed in Germany and the United States. Ndodana-Breen has received numerous awards and honors for his compositions, including the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Music in 1998 and the African Composition Prize from the BBC in 2005. He has also been a composer-in-residence at various institutions, including the University of Witwatersrand and the University of Michigan. In addition to his work as a composer, Ndodana-Breen is also a professor of composition at the University of Cape Town. He has mentored many young composers and has been an advocate for the development of classical music in South Africa. Ndodana-Breen's music has been praised for its unique blend of African and Western musical traditions. His works showcase the richness and diversity of African music and have helped to bring African classical music to a wider audience. Ndodana-Breen's contributions to classical music have earned him a place among the most important composers of his generation.

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