Unyazi 2005: electronica Africa
26 July 2005
Egyptian composer Halim El-Dabh, the father of electronic music in Africa, will join a host of top local and international composers at Unyazi 2005, the first electronic music symposium and festival to be hosted in Africa.
El-Dabh, who created one of the first electronic works ever in 1944, will be active in both the performance and workshop sides of Unyazi 2005.
Taking place in Johannesburg from 1 to 4 September, the event will include performances, paper sessions and workshops featuring electronic, electro-acoustic and computer music, computer-automated acoustic instruments, electronica, DJ-ing and sound installations.
International musicians attending the event include Mark Applebaum (USA), Luc Houtkamp and the POW ensemble (The Netherlands), Yannis Kyriakides (The Netherlands), George Lewis (USA), Lukas Ligeti (USA), Francisco Lopez (Spain), Vasco Martins (Cape Verde Islands), Eduardo Reck Miranda (France), Pauline Oliveros (USA),
Matthew Ostrowski (USA), Maxime Rioux (Canada), Rodrigo Sigal (Mexico), Carl Stone (USA) and Alicia Terzian (Argentina).
South African musicians and musicologists taking part include Jürgen Bräuninger (University of KwaZulu-Natal), Sazi Dlamini (University of KwaZulu-Natal), Theo Herbst (Stellenbosch University), Zim Ngqawana, Brendon Bussy, Carlo Mombeli, Cobi Van Tonder and Skwatta Kamp.
South African exile Louis Moholo, the acclaimed avant garde drummer who left SA in 1964 as a member of the Blue Notes and has subsequently been associated with a host of projects, ranging from the Brotherhood of Breath to Viva la Black, will also be participating.
The conference will facilitate the exchange of ideas between overseas and local composers, performers, and musicologists on matters concerning electro-acoustic music in the southern hemisphere. The proceedings will be published with the assistance of Belgium's Institute for Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music.
The
festival will measure the need of, and create an awareness of, the economic and practical importance of the computer and the role that it does and can play in music creation, performance, and education.
The workshops will focus on the practical application of electronics in music, giving South African musicians the opportunity to work with their international counterparts.
South African musicians interested in participating should contact festival organiser Dimitri Voudouris at dimitri@newmusicsa.org.za.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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