In Memoriam

Message from Michael Blake: "I was deeply saddened by the news of fellow composer and friend Makhaya Mjana's passing last week. He was my exact contemporary and I met him in 1998 when I returned to live in (the New) South Africa. With his award-winning choir Joy of Africa, we collaborated on many occasions, starting with the very first edition of the New Music Indaba in 2000 when he conducted a massed choir in the Makhanda (Grahamstown) Cathedral singing the world premiere of Kevin Volans's "One Day Fine". One occasion that particularly stands out was in 2004 when Joy of Africa (with Makhaya himself in the tenor section) joined an ad hoc ensemble in the South African premiere of Gavin Bryars's "Jesus Blood Never Fail'd Me Yet". This is the most rousing version of this piece I've ever heard, and I'm posting it here for everyone to hear. The choir joins in about midway. You can of course hear it live in Cape Town on 29 March at the Purpur Festival (non-choral version)."