Rhodes University’s Kingsley Buitendag is one of the two finalists for composition in the Jazz category in the SAMRO (Southern African Music Rights Organisation) Overseas Scholarships Competition.
Rhodes University’s Kingsley Buitendag is one of the two finalists for composition in the Jazz category in the SAMRO (Southern African Music Rights Organisation) Overseas Scholarships Competition.
Buitendag, 25, who was born in East London, comes from a family of musicians and started playing the piano when he was six. He is currently completing his second year of Masters in jazz piano and composition at Rhodes University and eagerly awaits the final round of the competition where his work will be competing against that of James Bassingthwaighte at the University of Johannesburg Arts Centre on 28 August 2010.
“I didn’t expect it all," said Buitendag. He said he underestimates himself and so it was a great surprise when he found out he had made the finals. Two of Buitendag’s works, an African style piece for quartet and a solo instrument piece of a Latin style, will be performed by other musicians and judged on how well he can conduct the rehearsals.
Buitendag said that entering the competition was a serious amount of work, about 80 pages of composition, and that the requirements were very strict in terms of style and genre. The first prize is a scholarship of about R170 000 which will be used to study overseas.
The competitors needed to send a proposal for how they intend to use the money to further their studies, which was a very important part of the application. He said if he won the competition he would love to study with John Taylor, the famous jazz composer and pianist who is a Professor at York University in England.
Another thing he’d want to do with the money is go to Norway and study with pianist Dag Arnesen, who he met at the Stockholm Jazz festival last year.
Buitendag completed his Bachelor of Music in Bloemfontein under jazz pianist and composer Noel Stockton, but then decided to come to Rhodes where he is supervised and mentored by Marc Duby, the head of the Department of Music. "He’s the one that mentioned the competition and triggered the whole thing," Buitendag said.
