Where Worlds Collide together two of South Africa’s most celebrated pianists, one eclectic classical and one jazz artist, in a unique collaboration. Kathleen Tagg and Andre Petersen draw from the rich sonic tapestries of classical music, jazz improvisation, and the nuances of South African jazz and indigenous music from southern Africa, to explore the diverse realms of sound that can be created with a piano. The project includes performances of original compositions alongside works by esteemed South African jazz composers, arranged specifically by the duo. Each musician has a long history of creating popular and successful projects that cross genres and blur boundaries while creating something uniquely personal. This duo project continues that tradition.
More than just a meeting place of jazz and classical music, Where Worlds Collide employs a wide array of additional elements, such as techniques Kathleen has developed, using the piano from the inside out, including plucking, bowing and stopping the strings to create a world of new sounds. Andre combines his classical training with his jazz voice, while Kathleen is a classical musician who improvises and writes music that crosses genres.
The project features ?original compositions by Tagg and Petersen alongside works by iconic South African jazz composers such as Abdullah Ibrahim, Bheki Mseleku, Moses Molelekwa.
South African-born pianist, composer and producer Kathleen Tagg, praised for her combining of “outstanding technique with deep musicality”, has been based in New York since 2001. She has performed on four continents in leading venues such as Carnegie Hall, had her original music performed in venues such as New York’s Lincoln Center, appeared on a host of classical, world music and multi-genre recordings on NAXOS, Universal, Table Pounding Records, Ossia Records and Gallo Africa, and produced numerous CDs and inter-disciplinary programs from Cape Town to Los Angeles. ?
Andre Petersen is undoubtedly one of South Africa’s most sought after pianists and educators. Andre is recipient of numerous classical music and jazz music awards including first prize in the Old Mutual Jazz Encounters Competition, first prize in the SAMRO Overseas Piano Scholarship Competition, the Oppenheimer Overseas Scholarship, and he is recipient of the Vuya Foundation Scholarship Award. Participating at the prestigious Parisian 2011 Concours de Piano-jazz Martial Solal Competition as the only African pianist to be selected from 68 international pianists, Andre received a Special Mention Award.
NMMU Music Department and Concert SA presents the Tagg-Petersen Duo on Monday, 12 June 2017 at 19:30 in the NMMU South Campus Auditorium.
Entrance to this concert is R70 for adults, R50 for pensioners and R30 for students and scholars.
It is sure to be a wonderful programme filled with works by South African composers and arrangements by the Tagg-Petersen Duo. The audience will be enchanted by both classical and jazz elements.
Alan Straton
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