Darling Buds of May fund-raiser a resounding success
A line-up of stellar artists kept the cold at bay during the Darling Buds of May fund-raiser on Saturday night, May 9, at a private residence in Wynberg.
Chairperson of the Cape Cultural Collective Board of Directors, Zenariah Barends, welcomed guests.
“We are here not just to share in an evening of incredible music and performance, but to celebrate a vision of social cohesion and development through the arts that has been at the heart of the Cape Cultural Collective for almost two decades. Tonight’s benefit concert is a vital moment for us. Every ticket bought and every person in this room represents a commitment to the idea that the arts can bridge the divides of our past and build a more unified future. The proceeds from this evening will go directly towards sustaining our ongoing programmes. Your presence here tonight allows us to keep the music playing and the stories flowing.”
Setting the tone for the evening was an upbeat amapiano dance by the Likhwezi Arts Project. Likhwezi, which means morning star, went on to perform two more items later, including a contemporary dance piece highlighting gender-based violence and promoting the rights of children; and a real hip-swinging Sophiatown-themed dance that captured the spirit of the past despite Apartheid’s oppression.
Karen Thorne and Tessa Gawith performed a version of Die Stem they had written as members of a trio called the Koeksisters during the End Conscription Campaign (ECC), which had opposed mandatory military service for white men during Apartheid.
Karen and Tessa had been members of the Grahamstown branch of the ECC and formed the Koeksisters with Alison Love. They performed at ECC and other anti-Apartheid protests and sang reworked songs with protest lyrics.
On Saturday, they shared the lyrics they had put to the tune of Die Stem – a poem written by CJ Langenhoven but used as the old national anthem.
The CCC’s own Rosa choir followed this with the national anthem of a democratic South Africa, Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, as well as a rendition of Stand By Me.
The Rosa choir, who are due to enter the studio for their first professional recording on May 23, later sang a version of Ndisondela Kuwe.
The smooth voices of Cindy Gibbon, Alex Benjamin and Thami Baba got the audience feeling nostalgic and ready to dance with songs including At Last, Fly Me to the Moon and Vul’Indlela. Poets Chris Ferndale and Vusumuzi Mpofu, who also served as MC, rendered some of their soul-stirring work. Vusumuzi’s She Loves Me was a work dedicated to his mother, Sibongile, who sat in the audience, and was a fitting tribute a day before Mother’s Day.
Chris’s works, The Harlequins are Dancing; A Short Walk to the Taxi; Mixed Masala and Khoi-Blessing left the audience in awe.
All artists were accompanied by a live band made up of CCC ensemble members Razak Johnson on guitar, Charles Louw on keyboard, Jonathan Coetzee on bass and Carlo Fabe on drums.
There were exciting raffles with prizes including stays in the Duivenhoksriver Valley, Tamboerskloof, Hogsback and St James; as well as a tandem bike ride up Chapman’s Peak and sunset drive in a vintage Mercedes-Benz.
