Rhodes Music postgraduate student Kingsley Buitendag was awarded the second prize of R40 000 in the jazz/popular music category of the Samro 2010 Overseas Scholarships competition for composers.
To qualify, Buitendag had to submit three pieces, one arranged for a quartet in a traditional South African style, one for an 18-piece big band in a traditional swing style, and one for a solo instrument in a Latin style.
Rhodes Music postgraduate student Kingsley Buitendag was awarded the second prize of R40 000 in the jazz/popular music category of the Samro 2010 Overseas Scholarships competition for composers.
To qualify, Buitendag had to submit three pieces, one arranged for a quartet in a traditional South African style, one for an 18-piece big band in a traditional swing style, and one for a solo instrument in a Latin style.
Once he was selected as a finalist, Buitendag had the opportunity to rehearse with a professional band who played his own material, culminating in the competition finals on 28 August in Johannesburg.
Buitendag’s work for jazz quartet, Mr Gaulana, is a tribute to an East London jazz guitarist and composer. The piece was performed by Roland Moses on piano, Mthunzi Mvubu on saxophone, Prince Bulo on bass guitar and Rob Watson on drums.
His other piece, Sombras, for solo jazz piano, was performed by Moses. Regarding the relevance of the experience to his studies, Buitendag says: “The compositional aspect of my studies has been greatly enhanced by the opportunity to hear my compositions played by a professional band, and I learnt a huge amount about composition and arranging from this experience.
I am grateful to the head of the Music and Musicology Department at Rhodes, Prof Marc Duby, who is supervising my masters’ degree who encouraged me to enter this competition.”
