Press Article

2005 Nov 09   "Four innovative artists take a bow"
Publication: The Star, Tonight
Byline: Adrienne Sichel

They may be 25 years old (which is very long in award years) but the Young Artists Awards, for evolving South African talent, have lost none of their lustre.

Just think of Richard E Grant (1981), Janice Honeyman (1982), Paul Slabolepszy (1983), Peter Schutz (1984), Maishe Maponya (1985), Andrew Buckland (1986), William Kentridge (1987), Helen Sebidi, Marthinus Basson, Johnny Clegg and Gary Gordon (1989) and you get the idea.

The Standard Bank came on board in 1984 and last night, in Johannesburg, the bank celebrated 22 years of sponsoring these trendsetting accolades by announcing a bright new batch of achievers identified by the festival committee.

They are: Hlengiwe Lushaba (dance), Churchill Madikida (visual art), Concord Nkabinde (jazz), and Sylvaine Strike (drama).

Since Five Roses (the original sponsors) started handing out these artistic laurels, linked to the annual National Arts Festival in Grahams-town, 84 awards have been presented, including five special tributes to artists “in recognition of their contribution to the National Arts Festival and the arts in South Africa in general”.

Among these recipients have been Pieter-Dirk Uys (1989) and Alfred Hinkel (1997). Moses Taiwa Molelekwa (2004) and Ramolao Makhene (2005) were honoured posthumously.

The winners each receive a grant for their productions, or exhibitions, as well as a cash prize. Their commissioned works will premiere at the 2006 National Arts Festival from June 29 to July 8.

Concord Nkabinde: True to his name this musician, composer, producer and music educationist has travelled extensively as a terrific bass guitarist with, among others, Johnny Clegg, Zim Ngqawana, Darius Brubeck, Deepak Ram, Ray Phiri and the late Gito Baloi.

Nkabinde (37) was born in Soweto and matriculated at Jabulani Technical High School. His passion for music, since he was 10 years old, culminated in his graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz studies at the University of Natal. He earned his teaching spurs at Fuba, then at Soweto's Funda Centre, before becoming a studio and touring musician.

As a producer he has worked on Joyous Celebration 1 and the late Wendy Mseleku's Picking up the Pieces. He has been active across musical genres from rock to jazz and traditional African music.

Nkabinde has also been involved in cross-cultural nation-to-nation projects such as Southern Cross (with Brazil, 1994), Two Nations (with the UK, 1997), Shuttle '99 (with all the Nordic countries, 1999), Beyond the Rainbow (with China 2001); and Imbizo (with Finland, 2003).