Adungu and uHadi: Asakhe Cuntsulana

Trumpet: Tshepo Moeketsi

Piano: Bonelela Mavuso

Violin: Asive Ngcebetsha

Percussin and Poetry: Siliziwe "Syleez" Jako

Stage Manager: Thina Maqubela

Media and Tech: Hlomla Maqubela, Nande Magida, Kuhle Ngqezana

Asakhe Cuntsulana is a professional musician and composer from the Eastern Cape who curates various musical experiences for national and international audiences. He plays the Adungu (Ugandan Harp) and uHadi (Xhosa bow harp) which are instrumental in his creative process and performances. He has performed at the National Arts Festival (NAF) opening ceremonies from 2022 to the present and has sung at the Standard Bank Activations in Nanaga to attract audiences to Makhanda. Asakhe’s most recent production, Eh Letha was featured at the 2023 NAF Fringe programme receiving acclaim and love from audiences. The production fused classical music instruments like the piano, violin and clarinet to create an avant garde musical experience in which African music permeates the sonic experience of audience. Asakhe is currently teaching music and arts in Johannesburg, South Africa whilst continously playing music and arranging music for various events.

Tshepo Moeketsi is a is a music composer, arranger and multi instrumentalist from Katlehong in the East rand of Johannesburg, Gauteng. He began playing the trumpet and also grew and affection for jazz as a child. Later he joined the Ekurhulei Jazz Ensemble (Big Band), playing mostly African jazz music and refined his improvisation and solo techniques. Tshepo currently teaches and mentors the youth in his neighbourhood to become musical artists and collaborates with various musicians and isntrumentalists to flavour their sonic expressions across South Africa. 

Bonelela Mavuso is a jazz pianist and composer who searches for an honest expression in music. With harmonic curiosity, he develops musical narratives that unfold as a result of both deliberate searching and chance discovery. Bonelela affectionately called "Bones" by his friends is now lecturing jazz piano theory and piano at University of Fort Hare, East London. His harmonic language on the piano transcends the realm of the natural into the supernatual like a doctor throwing bones. 

Siliziziwe Jako is a well known as Syleez is a poet and percussionist whose roots are in Alice. Eastern Cape. Introduced to poetry by his primary school teacher, Siliziwe has emerged as an orator of spoken word and as a story teller within and beyond the Eastern Cape. He has taken his poetry to UK stages by winning the Recite Your Own poetry competition in 2020. The qualified electrical engineer and self taught percussionist fuses his indigenous spoken  word poetry with modern day musical instruments and traditional instruments. He has played at the NAF opening in 2023 and played for the award winning Makhanda KWANTU Choir at their National Arts Festival debut in 2023 which won an ovation award. 

Asive Ngcebetsha is a violinist known for her versatility in Western Classical, South African Jazz and Kwela music. Her abiltity to infuse an African indigenous sound into various compositions has permeated into her recent collaborations at NAF at the opening since 2022. Asive breaks the barriers and explores the endless possiblities in using this classical instrument in reveberating African stories and echoing popular songs from genres such as Amapiano, Afro-pop as well as African folk music. Her improvisation skill and approach to music mastery on the violin is unmatched, creating an ambience, yearning for calmness and jubilation.