Stephen de Souza Ensemble

Meryl van Noie Ensemble

Blake Hellaby Ensemble

In 2023, as part of the festival, we would like to stretch the boundaries of space by incorporating the W. H. Bell Music Library as one of the venues to host the lunchtime performances in a format commonly known as the Tiny Desk Concerts. This concept is borrowed from the NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series where artists from all over the world perform live and acoustically behind the desk of All Songs Considered host, Bob Boilen (https://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/). This format has earned a cult following globally and as UCT’s SACM, we would like to be the first institution in the country to pilot this format in an attempt to re-imagine and create innovative spaces of artistic expression in our university. Whilst we fully recognize the role of the library as a sacred and respected space designated for learning and research, we strongly believe that this role can be re-envisioned in the context of a performing arts school where the boundaries of research and learning transcend traditional book publications and texts but rather incorporate practice-based forms of research as legitimate modes of knowledge creation. This concert format offers us the opportunity to bring the music scores and literature on the shelves to life through performance in that very space.

The W. H. Bell Library staff are engaged in ongoing attempts to attract more visitors to the library, increasing foot traffic and making the library the space of choice to study, read and work. This can be achieved through changing entrenched perceptions about the library from those of decorum and conservatism to a more contemporary and accessible facility wherein art can find expression through gatherings and engagements.

We hope you will join us for our Lunch Hour Library Desk concerts on Wednesday 20 September and Thursday 21 September 1-2pm at the W. H. Bell Music Library at the SACM as we strive to create an all-inclusive, transformed, and contemporary African university.

Nomfundo Xaluva-Dyantyis (MMus, MBA)

Senior Lecturer: Jazz Studies