Mzilikazi Khumalo
James Stephen Mzilikazi Khumalo (20 June 1932 —) is a South African composer and professor of African languages.
Early life
Khumalo was born on the farm KwaNgwelu in Natal in 1932. Shortly after Khumalo's birth his parents were ordained as ministers in Salvation Army, which ran the farm at the time. The family moved to Hlabisa, where Khumalo started school. It was at this school that his life-long involvement with choral music began; "Khumalo developed a deep love for traditional music."
Scholar of African languages
After completing high school Khumalo enrolled at the teachers' training college in Mamelodi, he continued his studies, obtaining a bachelors degree with majors in English and Zulu in 1956 from the University of South Africa, and subsequently completed masters and doctoral degrees.
Khumalo began as a tutor in the Department of African Languages of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in 1969 and advanced to become a professor of African languages and head of the Department of Africal Languages at Wits.
Composer
His first composition was Ma Ngificwa Ukufa, which had its premiere in 1959.
His compositions consist principally of settings of Zulu texts. His Five African Songs is an arrangement of four traditional songs and one modern tune for choir and symphony orchestra. It has been recorded by the South Afrian National Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Choir of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, conducted by Richard Cock. Two of the five songs are in the Xhosa language, and the other three are in Zulu. The piece has also been orchestrated by Peter Louis Van Dijk.
In 1986 provided a choral composition for the enthronement of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Khumalo is also the composer of the opera Ushaka KaSenzangakhona, which the story of the Zulu king, Shaka.[1]
He also played a role in producing an official version of the National Anthem of South Africa, at the request of President Nelson Mandela.
Published works
- An autosegmental account of Zulu phonology (PhD). University of the Witwatersrand. 10 November 2014. hdl:10539/15848.
- "Zulu tonology". African Studies. 41 (1): 3–125. 1982. doi:10.1080/00020188208707579. ISSN 0002-0184.
Awards and honours
In 2015 Wits University awarded him with an honorary doctorate.[2]
Notes and references
- ↑ Spector, J Brooks (30 March 2015). "Pieter-Dirk Uys and Mzilikazi Khumalo – and the many uses of history | Daily Maverick". dailymaverick.co.za. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
- ↑ "Wits to honour top composer and renowned engineer". Times LIVE. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
Further reading
- Mugovhani, Ndwamato George (2008). "An interview with Mzilikazi Khumalo". SAMUS : South African Music Studies : Theorising South(ern) African music. pp. 155–168. ISSN 2223-635X. hdl:10520/EJC133270.
- Parker, Beverly Lewis (June 2008). "Art, Culture and Authenticity in South African Music". International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music. 39 (1): 57–71. JSTOR 25487539. (subscription required (help)).
- Mhlambi, Innocentia J. (2015). "The question of nationalism in Mzilikazi Khumalo's Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu (2002)". Journal of African Cultural Studies. 27 (3): 294–310. doi:10.1080/13696815.2015.1049245. ISSN 1369-6815.
External links
- Biography at AfriClassical.com