Switzerland’s ambitious and award-winning sextet featuring some of the top jazz musicians Europe has to offer, heads to South Africa for a whirlwind tour of three cities across the country. Hildegard Lernt Fliegen, also known as, Hildegard Learns To Fly, embarks on a journey fuelled by world-class musical ingenuity and characterized by their unique style of jazzy exuberance and quirky humour. Heading straight to Grahamstown as an opening attraction for the National Arts Festival, this daring band makes its way to Cape Town and Johannesburg for performances that bring the zest and spirit of South Africa’s premier arts Festival to a city near you from 28 June to 4 July 2018.
Formed in 2005 under the leadership of acclaimed Swiss vocalist Andreas Schaerer, Hildegard Lernt Fliegen brings together a range of sounds sliding from interlocking rhythms to free jazz, and straight-ahead swing traversing into accents of Stravinsky-visits-vaudeville. With each performance packed with fearsome complexity, audiences across the world are plunged into the full immersion of the distinct high-energy Hildegard experience.
As part of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia’s Winter Programme, the Hildegard Lernt Fliegen tour across South Africa is designed to cultivate audiences, develop cultural exchange and connect communities throughout June and July 2018. This Eastern Cape leg of the tour will see a display of innovative collaborations with South African jazz musicians, within the context of the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival
In Cape Town, the band will perform an unplugged set in the new concert series hosted by the Norval Foundation, followed by a full concert setting at the Joseph Stone Auditorium in Athlone. Johannesburg audiences will also have an opportunity to hear this project at the UJ Arts Centre Theatre as part of the UJ Arts & Culture 2018 programme, Metamorphosis.
Hildegard Lernt Fliegen sextet is made up of Andreas Schaerer [vocals], Andreas Tschopp [trombone], Matthias Wenger [soprano/alto saxophone, flute], Benedikt Reising [baritone /alto saxophone, bass clarinet], Marco Müller [bass], Christoph Steiner [drums], and Christoph King-Utzinger accompanying as sound engineer and bass player in collaborations.
Media are invited to the Hildergard experience. Hildegard Lernt Fliegen is supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.
TOUR
Grahamstown National Arts Festival – 28 June to 1 July 2018
Andreas Schaerer & Hildegard Lernt Fliegen at DSG Auditorium
Date: Saturday 30 June
Time: 19:00
Andreas Schaerer & Hildegard Lernt Fliegen at DSG Hall
Date: Sunday 1 July
Time: 17:00
Standard Bank Jazz & Blues Café
Date: Thursday 28 June
Time: 22:30
Featuring: Matthias Wenger, Andreas Tschopp, Afrika Mkhize, Shane Cooper, Sphelelo Mazibuko
Sydney Mavundla – Luhambo at DSG Hall
Date: Friday 29 June
Time 12:00
Featuring: Sydney Mavundla, Sisonke Xonti, Andreas Tschopp, Afrika Mkhize, Ariel Zamonsky, Peter Auret
Standard Bank Jazz & Blues Café
Date: Friday 29 June
Time: 22:30
Featuring: Benedikt Reising, Gordon Vernick, Bokani Dyer, Marco Müller, Marlon Witbooi
Standard Bank Jazz & Blues Café
Date: Saturday 30 June
Time: 22:30
Featuring: Mthunzi Mvubu, Benedikt Reising, Sydney Mavundla, Afrika Mkhize, Romy Brauteseth, Peter Auret
Andile Yenana: Umnqgonqgo wabantu at DSG Hall
Date: Sunday 1 July
Time: 12:00
Featuring: Andile Yenana, Linda Sikhakhane, Marcus Wyatt , Kyle du Preez , Christoph King-Utzinger, Michi Stulz
All band members will participate in giving workshops and teaching at the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival from 28 June to 1 July.
Cape Town
Date: Monday, 2 July
Venue: Norval Foundation
Time: 19:30
Date: Tuesday, 3 July
Venue: Joseph Stone Auditorium, Athlone
Time: 19:30
Johannesburg
Date: Wednesday, 4 July,
Venue: UJ Arts Centre Theatre – University of Johannesburg
Time: 19: 30
About Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia
Pro Helvetia Johannesburg is one of five international nodes of the Swiss Arts Council, present in the Southern African (SADC) region since 1998. Our office covers 15 countries, facilitating the presentation of work, exchange and collaboration between artists, projects and organisations in Southern Africa and Switzerland, through residencies, tours and collaborative projects between the two contexts. We work to build an enabling environment for collaboration and the development and presentation of new work by forging ties with local organisations and event organisers, developing and nurturing long-term partnerships, initiating co-productions with artists from the region and organising residencies.