The Playhouse Company, an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts & Culture, is proud to salute Dr Madala Kunene with an Honorary Concert in the Drama Theatre on Friday 12 October.
Starring Dr Kunene, and directed by Edmund Mhlongo, the concert will also feature Xolisa Dlamini with Thando Nyameni as MC.
Dr Kunene has recently received an honorary doctoral degree (Doctor of Music) from UKZN’s College of Humanities.
Speaking at the investiture of his honorary degree during the University’s graduation ceremony in May this year, Kunene expressed his deep appreciation and humility for the acknowledgment the institution had accorded him.
The university responded this was in recognition of the extraordinary impact Kunene had made on indigenous music, throughout Africa and the world.
Kunene said “I strive to play the guitar in a way that reflects my gift. I also sing in my mother tongue in order to preserve our culture through singing songs relating to issues that affect our people’s welfare”.
One of eThekwini’s best loved sons of music, Madala Kunene is affectionately known as “Bafo”. Born in 1951 Mkhumbane near Durban, his family was forced by the apartheid government to relocate to the township of KwaMashu in the late1950s. He started busking on the Durban’s beachfront at the age of seven, making his first guitar out of a cooking oil tin. Over the years his fame spread exponentially, to the point where he is referred to as the “legendary king of the Zulu guitar”, or the “Maskandi King”.
The Playhouse’s Dr Madala Kunene Honorary Concert will start at 19.00. Tickets are R100. Booking is through Webtickets.
Media enquiries to Charlene Moodley-Bezuidenhout, 031 369 9400 / [email protected]
