What to Expect

• A musical celebration featuring a mix of traditional and contemporary South African music
• Top South African vocalists and instrumentalists performing with the world’s greatest big band
• Free pre-concert discussion about the music and artists at 7pm

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis kicks off Opening Weekend in Rose Theater with a musical celebration of South African democracy, 25 years after apartheid's end. Top South African musicians will join the orchestra to perform essential South African music, with each song chosen by a guest performer and newly arranged for the show by the JLCO.

South Africa has long been a vibrant and unique jazz hub, and most of the guests featured tonight helped shape the sound of jazz as a new South Africa was being born—and the music performed this evening reflects the sound of a nation defining itself anew.

Special guests include three New York-based South African vocalists—Nonhlanhla Kheswa, Melanie Scholtz, and Jazz at Lincoln Center fan-favorite Vuyo Sotashe—plus five top instrumentalists joining us from South Africa: saxophonist McCoy Mrubata, pianist Nduduzo Makhathini, and vocalist and pianist Thandi Ntuli.