Unisa puts African music preservation centre stage

The University of South Africa (Unisa) is strengthening its role in preserving African musical heritage with the return of its African Music Festival, bringing together traditional music practitioners and contemporary performers for two nights in Pretoria.

The second edition of the festival will take place on 21 and 22 August 2026 at the ZK Matthews Great Hall at Unisa’s Main Campus, with both concerts starting at 18:00.

The festival was launched last year and has since been elevated to one of the university’s flagship projects. It forms part of Unisa’s broader mission to “Reclaim Africa’s Intellectual Futures”, with music providing one of the platforms through which the institution is pursuing that vision.

This year’s festival places the mbira, marimba, bow and percussion at the centre of its programme. These instruments have long been associated with the musical traditions of Southern Africa and have helped preserve cultural expression and knowledge across generations.

Unisa’s approach is to bring those traditions into a contemporary setting rather than treating them as relics of the past.

The opening concert on Friday, 21 August, will feature internationally acclaimed African guitarist Louise Mhlanga as the headline performer.

Zimbabwean master musicians Solomon Mudavanhu and Laina Gumoboreshumba will also perform and teach during the festival. Their involvement highlights the event’s emphasis on passing musical knowledge directly from experienced practitioners to new generations.

Virtuoso percussionist Mike Sibanda will lead the Totem Marimba Band in a programme featuring African and contemporary classics.

The festival will culminate in a Gala concert on Saturday, 22 August, with Afro-fusion group Freshlyground headlining the evening.

Freshlyground will perform songs from its latest album, Take Me Home, as well as some of the group’s popular fan favourites. Known for blending indigenous and contemporary influences from across Southern Africa, the group reflects the evolving nature of African music.

The combination of traditional musicians and contemporary performers is central to the festival’s message.

African music has historically served as a means of storytelling, cultural preservation and knowledge transmission. From rhythms and instruments to songs and performance practices, musical traditions have provided communities with ways of retaining their histories and identities.

Unisa’s festival seeks to ensure those traditions continue to have a place in modern cultural life.

The university’s emphasis on “Reclaim Africa’s Intellectual Futures” also places the festival within a wider conversation about African knowledge systems and cultural ownership.

By creating a platform for musicians to perform, teach and collaborate, Unisa is positioning music as more than entertainment. It is presenting it as a living archive of African history and identity.

The festival also demonstrates that preservation does not have to mean keeping traditional music unchanged. Instead, it can involve allowing indigenous instruments and musical ideas to interact with contemporary sounds and reach new audiences.

With Mhlanga, Mudavanhu, Gumoboreshumba, Sibanda, the Totem Marimba Band and Freshlyground on the programme, Unisa is bringing together different generations and expressions of African music.

The message is simple: African musical heritage belongs not only to the past, but to the future as well.

The second Unisa African Music Festival will be held at the ZK Matthews Great Hall on 21 and 22 August, with both concerts beginning at 18:00.