Nelson Mandela University’s Isisusa Jazz Fest Concert 2025 turned the Feather Market Centre into a multilingual celebration of music and heritage on Sunday.
The university’s annual showcase — MMM ... Isisusa! Jou Lekker Ding! — expanded its focus this year to draw together school choirs, an isiXhosa imbongi, a barbershop quartet, an impromptu jazz ensemble and a dash of Cape-style humour.
Under the artistic direction of NMU choir conductor Robert Gillmer and Prof Alethea de Villiers, the Isisusa Jazz Fest Concert 2025 translated Heritage Month into a vibrant lived experience with 140 performers filling the stage programme.
Gillmer said, through Isisusa, the university aims to keep building bridges between young talent and SA’s rich musical traditions.
“At Isisusa this year, multilingual voices and the energy of the NMU Choir and school choirs reminded us that music and poetry are a living heritage, connecting the wisdom of [poet and dramatist Samuel] Mqhayi and [former president Nelson] Mandela with the creativity of today,” Gillmer said.
A poignant moment came in tribute to the late Gqeberha-born jazz legend Faya Faku, who died in Switzerland in June.
Jazz quartet Moment’s Notice performed two of the internationally acclaimed flugelhorn player’s original works.
Faku, a long-time mentor of young musicians, gave one of his final public performances at the 2024 Isisusa concert on the university’s Summerstrand campus.
MC Ben “Boeta B” Baadjies kept the audience on their toes with quick-fire Cape-style humour while explaining how the concert reached across cultures to tell SA stories through music.
This year’s theme — “Mqhayi Meets Mandela” (MMM) — explored how isiXhosa poet Mqhayi helped shape Mandela’s sense of purpose through language and performance.
Actor Mongezi Ncwadi brought this aspect of the Eastern Cape’s heritage alive with a spoken-word rendering of Mqhayi’s verse, under the direction of Xolisa Ngubelanga.
A few other standout performances included traditional songs such as Bawo Thixo Amandla, Be the Change, Pata Pata and Baba Yethu.
Men’s vocal quartet, The Creed, showcased their versatility, moving from Afrikaans numbers by Loukman Adams and Myne Grové to the sounds of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and a soulful rendition of Amazing Grace.
Work by the university’s arts, culture and heritage committee, the communication and marketing division, the Bird Street campus and inner-city stakeholders forum, the language working group, the graduation and institutional culture working group shaped the celebration.
The Herald
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