Tracing Hollow Traces: A Portrait of Andile Khumalo

Step into the intricate sound world of Andile Khumalo, one of the most compelling composers of our time, as performed by members of Chicago’s outstanding Ensemble Dal Niente.

Listening to Andile Khumalo’s music is like stepping into a world where time is stretched, fractured, and reassembled. His compositions invite deep listening, where textures shimmer, dissolve, and reappear in unexpected ways. Drawing from African sonic traditions, European avant-garde, Spectralism, and improvisatory jazz, Khumalo’s music resists easy categorization. In works like The Broken Mirrors of Time, time is reflected in fragments, like memory, where cultural surfaces intersect, blur, and transform. The piece echoes the vibrant simultaneity of downtown Johannesburg, where multiple musics resonate with one another. Expect music that is subtle yet powerful, abstract yet deeply rooted in the social, cultural, and sonic realities of African urban life.

Schedule:

7:15PM Doors Open

7:40PM Young Artist Overture: Andile Khumalo (ZAF) The Broken Mirrors of Time (2021)

performed by students of the Glenn Gould School

8:00PM Main Show

Featuring:

Andile Khumalo —Composer

Constance Volk —Flute

Katherine Jimoh —Clarinet

Juan Horie —Cello

Mabel Kwan —Piano

About Ensemble Dal Niente:

Ensemble Dal Niente performs, develops, and sustains new and experimental music for small to large chamber ensemble. We are dedicated to growing relationships with artists, composers, and listeners; advancing distinct and challenging musical voices; and sharing that work with our Chicago, U.S., and international communities.

About Andile Khumalo:

Durban-born composer Andile Khumalo studied composition at Columbia University under the guidance of Tristan Murail, Fabien Lévy, and George Lewis. His former teachers include Jürgen Bräuninger, Urlich Süße, Fabio Nieder and Marco Stroppa with whom he studied in Stuttgart (Germany) where he got his Masters in Composition.

Khumalo has attended masterclasses in Darmstadt (Germany), Fondation Royaumont (France), and Stuttgart with leading composers of our time such as Salvatore Sciarrino, Stefano Gervasoni, Brian Ferneyhough, and Isabel Mundry.

His music has been performed and presented in different festivals such as New Music Indaba (South Africa), Germany, Royaumont “Voix Nouvelles” (France), International Society of Contemporary Music (Hong Kong), Switzerland, Sweden, Takefu International Music Festival (Japan) and in the United states by ensembles such as Sontonga String quartet, Ensemble Mosaik, Ensemble Baikonur, International Contemporary Ensemble (New York), members of Ensemble Vortex, and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra.

(Biography courtesy of Composer)

• Andile Khumalo (ZAF) Tracing Hollow Traces for clarinet
• Andile Khumalo (ZAF) Iso[R] (2004) for flute, clarinet, and cello
• Andile Khumalo (ZAF) Schau-fe[r]n-ster (2011) for piano
• Andile Khumalo (ZAF) Wade Through Water for clarinet and piano
• Andile Khumalo (ZAF) Zeuste for flute
• Andile Khumalo (ZAF) Ossia (2010) for clarinet and cello
• (CAN) Anssi de Suite for solo cello
• (DEU) Klarinettentrio for clarinet, piano and cello

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