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SA artists to grace International Jazz Day slated for monthend in Windhoek

SA artists to grace International Jazz Day slated for monthend in Windhoek

The International Jazz Day (IJD) will be celebrated at the Franco Namibia Cultural Centre (FNCC) on 30 April, with performances by Thetardius Music Academy and Sisonke Xonti from South Africa.

The theme for this year’s IJD is ‘Diversity bringing us together and over the years jazz music has been celebrated through IJD, annual festivals and radio programmes dedicated to jazz.

Each year on 30 April, this international art form is recognized for promoting peace, dialogue among cultures, diversity and respect for human rights and human dignity, eradication of discrimination, promoting freedom of expression fostering gender equality and reinforcing the role of youth in enacting social change.

UNESCO in a statement said that the Thetardius Music Academy was established 7 years ago to provide music classes in various genres for young and old musicians in the country, with a focus on music education in promoting the country’s musical culture.

“Sisonke Xonti, is the 2020 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for Jazz, he is a saxophonist from South Africa and took up music as a full-time career six years again, having studied towards a degree in law throughout this university career,” added UNESCO.

The event is co-sponsored by the FNCC and Rand Merchant Bank and organized in partnership with UNESCO, National Theatre of Namibia (NTN), College of the Arts (COTA), Desert RADIO and Energy100 FM.

The objectives of the IJD are to celebrate Namibian and regional jazz artists, promote the history of Namibian jazz music, through public education initiatives and public engagements, promote intellectual cooperation and mural understanding of people, contribute to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration amongst nations and people, highlight the extraordinary heritage and history of jazz and to provide enriching, entertaining and educational cultural programming.


 

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Mandisa Rasmeni

Mandisa Rasmeni has worked as reporter at the Economist for the past five years, first on the entertainment beat but now focussing more on community, social and health reporting. She is a born writer and she believes education is the greatest equalizer. She received her degree in Journalism at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) in June 2021. . She is the epitome of perseverance, having started as the newspaper's receptionist in 2013.