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More on Soweto String Quartet....
Sandile Khemese, first violinist and musical
director of the Soweto String Quartet remembers the
reactions of friends in the early days: "All our
friends thought we were very strange. They would
laugh at us and tell us we were crazy playing these
instruments. But it was all very natural to us. As
young boys we would sit up all night listening to
Haydn and Mozart. It all just seemed very natural to
us".
For over 30 years a Youth Orchestra and a Symphony
Orchestra thrived in the township - fusing the
Classics with African traditions. Sandile graduated
through both and shares some of his memories: "I was
aware of our traditional music, but I didn't realise
that I could express it through the violin. I
thought it was an exclusively European instrument.
When I was in the Soweto Youth Orchestra I realised
that we could arrange African music for strings - it
was a revelation".
"An exciting fusion of classical instrument and hot
african Jazz. One of my favorite ensembles" Quincy
Jones. In 1978, Sandile and his older brother Reuben
decided it was time to form their own string
quartet. They rehearsed in their spare time and
would perform whenever and wherever they could.
Sandile was offered a scholarship at Manchester's
Royal Northern Collage of Music in Britain. This put
the quartet on hold for 6 years until Sandile
returned to Soweto in 1986. And thanks to Apartheid,
Sandile couldn't get a job with the "Whites Only"
National Symphony Orchestra. This turned out to be
just the thing to get the string quartet up and
running. The quartet was back. Reuben on Cello,
younger brother Thami on Second Violin and a close
childhood friend Makhosini Mnguni on Viola.
The quartet had to keep their day jobs to survive at
first, but their invigorating live shows grew
increasingly more popular across the townships.
Sandile remembers what it was like: "The first half
of our concerts consisted of Classical repertoire,
with the second half exploding into our string
arrangements of African music. We wanted to teach
kids in Soweto about different kinds of music and to
appreciate Classical music - it was very hard to
make a living".
"Nobody could overlook the vitality of the ...
rhythms which formed the basis of the program. The
harmonies evoke South Africa's rich tradition of
vocal ensembles" Clive Davis, The Times, London.
The Soweto String Quartet became a full-time
professional outfit in 1992, the time when South
Africa was in the throes of dramatic change. Sandile
on how the changes affected the band: "The elections
in 1994 turned everything around for us. Our first
really important gig was actually at President
Mandela's inauguration. That was very emotional, but
it was also the turning point for our career. The
President even started recommending us for all sorts
of other jobs".
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