Toyota Music Festival: Soweto String Quartet: From classical and kwela to tango and techno
14 October at 19:00
Jan Marais Nature Reserve
Seamlessly melding Bob James’ In the Garden into the opening notes of Sewende Laan’s earworm of a theme song, Soweto String Quartet (SSQ) kicked off their performance at Woordfees by expressing their hope that audience members grow “warmer and warmer” throughout.
And that is exactly what they got.
As the clock struck 20:00 in the Jan Marais Nature Reserve, audience members started dancing to a medley starting with Happy Birthday, melding into Suikerbossie, and concluding with Timbuktu, and didn’t stop until the warm yellow lighting dimmed.
From their signature zebra-print dinner jackets – a subtle nod to their 1994 debut album Zebra Crossing – to their reworking of well-known tunes to an extent unrecognisable even to Shazam, SSQ is a far cry from the stiffness traditionally associated with classical music.
Having played at events ranging from Princess Diana’s memorial service to the opening of South Africa’s parliament, the group is recognised for its combination of contemporary and traditional music, arranging and reworking much of their own sets.
Their Woordfees performance was no exception, with members Sandile Khemese, Thani Khemese, Makhosini Mnguni, and Themba Mashobane smiling at each other over their instruments whilst backed by cymbal-heavy drumbeats, combining African street music – kwela – with genres ranging from Afrikaans folk music to flamenco.
Musical duo ULTRACOUSTIC joined Soweto String Quartet for the 2025 rendition of their 90-minute Woordfees performance at the Jan Marais Nature Reserve on 14 October. From left to right: Wilken Calitz, Sandile Khemese, Thani Khemese, Makhosini Mnguni, Dirkie van Staden, and Themba Mashobane. PHOTO: Supplied/Candice Jantjies
The range of their 90-minute, 11-medley-strong performance is best summed up by their opening piece’s tongue-in-cheek title: “Bach goes to the pub”.
At Woordfees in 2019, the group received an award for best collaborative performance with Loki Rothman. This time around, the group paired up with fellow South African artists once more.
Wilken Calitz and Dirkie van Staden of ULTRACOUSTIC, introduced to SSQ by their fathers in the 90s, joined the quartet for the opening and closing ensembles, intermittently using their guitars as drums and for their designed purpose.
Van Staden also joined SSQ for Through and through, with curls bouncing and hands moving on his guitar with the motion and speed of a swallowtail butterfly.
Dancing around one another onstage between Cotton-eyed Joe and AC/DC, ULTRACOUSTIC ignited the crowd with two medleys combining 90s club music with slightly more traditional Irish fare.
The two groups united once more for a song from the Graceland collection, which transitioned into an electrifying rendition of 90s club essential Insomnia.
An insistent crowd then received an encore performance of kwela, signed off by the members’ bows lifted in unison, showing their signature blend of unity and versatility.