National Youth Jazz Festival, Makhanda

National Youth Jazz Festival, Makhanda A barometer of South African jazz. 29 June - 4 July 2026.

About The Festival

The National Youth Jazz Festival has become one of the most significant jazz development programmes in the country, annually bringing together over 300 students and 40 teachers from diverse backgrounds all over South Africa, with nearly 60 professional jazz musicians and educators. The festival lasts nearly a week, incorporating innovative jazz performance, rehearsals, workshop

s, lectures, networking and an opportunity for South Africa’s future jazz stars to interact personally and musically with their peers and the country’s top performers. The NYJF has hosted most of South Africa’s leading jazz musicians over the past 16 years, as well as musicians and teachers from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Britain, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Mexico, Mozambique, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, the US and Zimbabwe. The top jazz students in South Africa audition for places in the National Schools Jazz Band and the National Youth Jazz Band (NYJB) and these national bands are conducted by some of South Africa’s leading jazz educators and performers. The NYJB performs regularly at major festivals around South Africa - Grahamstown, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban - and has performed in New York, Sweden and the North Sea Jazz Festival, The Netherlands. The philosophy of the NYJF is to promote the development of jazz in South African by providing vibrant, excellent educational opportunities for young players; by encouraging artistic integrity and creativity on the world-class Main Jazz Stage; by acknowledging our country’s jazz heritage; by creating a forum for South African musicians to network with peers from around the country and the world; and by providing audiences with unique, quality jazz.

Catch the National Youth Jazz Band conducted by Sisonke Xonti live in Joburg tomorrow night at UntitledBasement!Tickets:...
17/11/2025

Catch the National Youth Jazz Band conducted by Sisonke Xonti live in Joburg tomorrow night at UntitledBasement!

Tickets: https://qkt.io/G4nkjK

15/11/2025

The National Schools Jazz Band 2025 performing Spring - live at the National Youth Jazz Festival, Makhanda, 2025.

The National Schools Jazz Band (NSJB) is a carefully-selected ensemble of the top school jazz musicians in the country. Applicants are put through a series of online and in-person auditions until only 8 or 9 top-tier players remain.

The band is directed this year by Ramon Alexander, a pianist from Mamre who has performed at numerous venues and festivals around the world and whose own music is a landscape of rhythmic interplay that showcases his legacy and heritage with the influences of Moravian hymns and the surviving legacy of Khoisan music. He is a senior lecturer in Jazz at Stellenbosch University.

Spring written by Chris Schilder.

Musicians:
Guitar - Ebenezer Mitewu
Piano - Sandla Twenani
Bass - Eyo Nzazi
Drums - Caleb Dlamini
Voice - James Ford
Trumpet - Siyamthanda Dlamini
Alto - Mholi Malinga
Tenor - Franco Von Wielligh
Trombone - Oluhle Rafuza

Sound by:
Les van der Veen (head sound engineer)
Adriaan Wessels (mix)
Izan Greyling
Nick Smuts

Video by:
Leila Kidson
Joshua Smuts

The NYJB is on the road again! The National Youth Jazz Band will be performing in the Sandton Convention Centre on Wedne...
15/11/2025

The NYJB is on the road again! The National Youth Jazz Band will be performing in the Sandton Convention Centre on Wednesday 19 November as part of the G20 meetings, courtesy of FirstRand Foundation.

You can catch their public performance the night before at Untitled Basement on Tuesday 18th. It’s a really killer band of young players, conducted by Sisonke Xonti.

Ticket link will be shared soon.

05/09/2025

The Fredrik Kronkvist Quartet performing ‘A Song to Sing' - Live at the National Youth Jazz Festival, Makhanda, 2025.

With a Masters in Fine Arts from the Malmö College of Music, Swedish Saxophonist Fredrik Kronkvist has established himself as a serious talent in Europe with nearly 20 albums as a leader. He has also made inroads in the New York scene with recordings with the likes of Jason Marsalis, Antonio Sanchez, Marcus Strickland and the legendary Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts.

Fredrik's quartet performance at the NYJF 2025 was with a group specifically put together for the festival, featuring the incredible Andile Yenana on piano, visiting Italian bassist Marco Zenini, and Durban-based drummer Riley Giandhari.

We are grateful to the FirstRand Foundation for their assistance in making our festival possible.

Musicians:
Fredrik Kronkvist (sax - SE)
Andile Yenana (piano)
Marco Zenini (bass - IT)
Riley Giandhari (drums)

Sound by:
Les van der Veen (head sound engineer)
Adriaan Wessels
Izan Greyling
Nick Smuts (mix)

Video by:
Leila Kidson
Joshua Smuts

Three members of the 2025 NYJB - Melisizwe Plaatjie (piano), Phoebe Mgxaji (vocals) and Jayden Harebottle (sax) - have b...
05/09/2025

Three members of the 2025 NYJB - Melisizwe Plaatjie (piano), Phoebe Mgxaji (vocals) and Jayden Harebottle (sax) - have been invited to guest on the Joburg ‘Starlight Classics’ this weekend and are loving the opportunity to work with leading members of the music industry.

Thanks to , RMB - Rand Merchant Bank and FirstRand Foundation for the opportunity!

08/08/2025

The National Youth Jazz Band 2025 performing ‘Iyonde’ - live at the National Youth Jazz Festival, Makhanda, 2025.

The National Youth Jazz Band brings together a selection of the best young jazz musicians in South Africa, aged 26 and younger. With only 8 positions available in the band, students undergo a gruelling online and in-person audition process to claim their place as one of South Africa’s up-and-coming jazz performers.

The 2025 NYJB is under the musical direction of leading saxophonist Sisonke Xonti, who was himself a member of the band in 2007 and 2009 and a member of the National Schools’ Jazz Band from 2004 to 2006. He is one of the busiest South African jazz musicians, with international tours and album releases along with his involvement with the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. His musical journey has been influenced and inspired by early guidance from mentors such as Ezra Ngcukana and Jimmy Dludlu. Iyonde is the title track of Sisonke's first album.

Musicians:
Jayden Harebottle (Tenor Saxophone)
Esihle Valela (Tenor Saxophone)
Melisizwe Plaatjie (Piano
Nick Ford (Bass)
Phoebe Mgxaji (Vocals)
Joshua Klein (Drums)

Sound by:
Les van der Veen (head sound engineer)
Adriaan Wessels (mix)
Izan Greyling
Nick Smuts

Video by:
Leila Kidson
Joshua Smuts

25/07/2025

The Riley G Collective performing ‘Joseph’s Mind’ - Live at the National Youth Jazz Festival, Makhanda 2025. ‘Joseph’s Mind’ is the title track from Riley’s second album.

Durban drummer Riley Giandhari is a dynamic South African artist and founder of Riley G Music. A gifted session drummer, composer, producer, and educator, he began playing drums at just three years old, inspired by his father, renowned drummer Pravin Giandhari. A UKZN Jazz graduate (Masters, Summa Cum Laude), Riley has collaborated with legends like Hugh Masekela, McCoy Mrubata and Feya Faku, among others. His latest project, Joseph’s Mind, is the second album recorded by The Riley G Collective. The title not only makes a Biblical reference to Joseph’s coat of many colours, but also Riley G’s own vibrant musical aesthetic, be it compositional choices, the diversity of the ensemble or improvisational output.

Musicians:
Riley Giandhari (drums)
Justin Bellairs (sax)
Al Dirt du Toit (guitar)
Zibusiso Makhathini (piano)
Prince Bulo (bass)

Sound by:
Les van der Veen (head sound engineer)
Adriaan Wessels
Izan Greyling
Nick Smuts (mixing & mastering)

Video by:
Leila Kidson
Joshua Smuts

Education is at the core of our festival - and running workshops and masterclasses is an essential way that we try to te...
09/07/2025

Education is at the core of our festival - and running workshops and masterclasses is an essential way that we try to teach and nurture the incredible youth talent in South Africa. Thank you to all the artists and educators that were so willing to share their knowledge and help grow jazz in this country.

Our final performance of the 2025 National Youth Jazz Festival was the phenomenal National Youth Jazz Band, conducted th...
06/07/2025

Our final performance of the 2025 National Youth Jazz Festival was the phenomenal National Youth Jazz Band, conducted this year by Sisonke Xonti.

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Diocesan School For Girls
Grahamstown

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