South African-born musician and composer, Neo Muyanga finds the harmonics that connect hearts and minds at the Africa In the World festival.
At the upcoming 2023 event, he will be storytelling through two new compositions, Thina the people and Train, don’t leave me behind which were inspired by the conversations and energy of the inaugural event. “I was very inspired,” Neo says, “Because the conceptual framework there was thinking through what role Africa has played in creating contemporary society.”
In conversations with Dele Olojede, founder of Africa In the World festival, Neo grappled with how Africans have been side-lined and overlooked when it comes to influence on global society. He says, “This festival recuperates ways of thinking about ourselves that are much bolder than the contemporary structure. It tells stories of how we as Africans, how our ancestors, have always been involved in the making and the formulating of the modern world.”
After studying music in Italy, Neo returned to Johannesburg in the mid-1990’s and teamed up with Masauko Chipembere as the critically acclaimed duo, BLK Sonshine. He has gone on to collaborate with a range of acclaimed artists including William Kentridge, John Kani and Paco Pena, as well as the Handspring Puppet Company, The Royal Shakespeare Company and Magnet Theatre. Working with long-time collaborator, director, Mark Fleishmann, Neo composed an opera of Zakes Mda’s novel Heart of Redness in 2015. The production, featuring players from Magnet Theatre and Cape Town Opera was staged at the Fugard Theatre.
Neo has been awarded research fellowships at the Centre for African Studies at the University of Cape Town, the University of California Irvine’s Humanities Research Institute, Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER) and Duke University in North Carolina.
He is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and a Fellow of the Africa Leadership Initiative-South Africa.
