Dorothy Masuka will be celebrated in conversation as part of her 80th birthday celebrations in heritage month thanks to visionary entrepreneurs. The globally acclaimed composer, singer and entrepreneur will be in a dialogue with a network of friends, associates, media and entrepreneurs on 23 September hosted by Newtown Junction mall, the Africans for Africa network and Skills Village 2030.
Masuka, fondly referred to as Mom D has performed on every continent, has dined with presidents and other world leaders, with Nelson Mandela also having named her as one of his favourite singers and continues to inspire.
Despite this, long term financial rewards have been a challenge – as is often the case with many celebrated African home-based artists, Newtown Junction mall, a hub for culture, arts and enterprise will bring together thought leaders and stakeholders from diverse sectors of the economy hoping to drive the change we seek. The dialogue is a platform enabled through a network of entrepreneurs determined to become a solution in advancing social cohesion through economic empowerment.
"As the new hub in the inner city we are delighted to be creating multi purposed retail spaces in Johannesburg to celebrate legacy and heritage. Hosting Dorothy Masuka on her 80th birthday is an honour and part of our vision to actively support arts, culture, heritage and entrepreneurship" says Michael Clampett, asset manager at Attacq Limited.
This celebration dialogue will also focus on how artists can conduct their calling as a lucrative profession and stream of entrepreneurship. Arts journalist and broadcaster Karabo Kgoleng will be speaking with Dorothy Masuka in this once-off event that is hosted by Entrepreneur Connect Africa a network under the Africans for Africa platform supported by JT Communication Solutions.
Entrepreneur Connect Africa is a network of influential entrepreneurs in the creative, business and professional industries. "The power of entrepreneurship in a digital era is exciting and offers champions who believe in positively exploring, using technology to its advantage to tell great African stories will advance how we share knowledge. The privilege to hear Mam Dorothy share her experiences is exciting" says Vanessa Perumal MD of JT Communication Solutions and architect of Africans for Africa and Entrepreneur Connect.
Using digital platforms, this network is revolutionising the way in which creative business owners can achieve great results, while maintaining full ownership of their work. Using #ECA on twitter, Entrepreneur Connect Africa hosts weekly live tweet events on Wednesdays at 19h30 CAT with creative leading entrepreneurs and influencers. Dorothy Masuka in Conversation will take this to the next level with a live tweet of the 23 September event, which will begin at 19:30.
Janet Landey of Skills village 2030 who stepped in to offer a much needed lifeline added that ‘this event is an opportunity for social inclusion, cohesion and integration honouring living legends in platforms like these events, we hope will be part of a solution where the legends themselves become beneficiaries.
To honour this queen of African music, the SAMA award winning singer & songwriter Nomsa Mazwai aka Nomisupasta one of South Africa’s most talented artists will alongside virtuoso jazz bassist and composer Olamide Timothy take to the stage, completing what is sure to be a dazzling and inspiring evening.
For media queries, media accreditation, interview requests and to access high resolution pictures etc please contact JT Comms on info@jtcomms.co.za or 011 788 7632
Notes to Editor
This event is by invite-only and should media want to attend, please who must send accreditation request to info@jtcomms.co.za
Nomsa Mazwai is an award winning musician and artist, born in Johannesburg in 1985. Mazwai was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 2010 and, while studying for her master’s degree in Economics at Fordham University, she gave a presentation to the United Nations on behalf of South Africa on how to engage young people on the Millennium Development Goals. She has been nominated for three SAMA awards and has won one — for Best Adult Alternative African album. She was the first female president of the Fort Hare University students’ representative council and has worked as a coordinator at the Nelson Mandela Institute, where she created educational progress opportunities for young people and students. She has also authored and published a book called ‘SAI SAI’. She is also the former director of Emthonjeni Arts, an artists’ residency in the rural town of Hamburg in the Eastern Cape which includes a theatre, a gallery, dance and recording studios. Recently she was invited to perform at the UN General Assembly with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
Olamide Timothy from Lagos, Nigeria, a singer/songwriter, bass player, composer, bandleader and producer with a singular artistic vision, began his musical journey at a young age. Ola, as he is affectionately called, would learn any instrument just by watching how it was played. As a teenager he received formal music instruction at the local community centre and later read for a diploma in music at the Lagos State University, later the Music Association of Nigeria (MUSON) and Berkley College of Music in Los Angeles, California which led to him being an ‘in-demand’ musician. His return to South Africa has seen him divide his time between Johannesburg and Limpopo, establishing in these two cities a reputation as one of the most exciting jazz bass players. He has performed, produced and recorded with several great musicians, both in Nigeria and abroad, musicians such as Biodun Batik, Earl Klugh, Ekemode, Jimmy Dludlu, Steve Rhodes Orchestra, the Golden Jazz band of Cameroun and Y.S Akinibosun amongst others. He currently works as an instructor of the Limpopo Youth Orchestra, South Africa, where previously he was the conductor and music director.
The event is supported by the #ECAfrica network, a dynamic collective of entrepreneurs, all thought leaders in their fields and includes organisations and individuals Thuli Magubane, Africa the Good News, Harem Clothing, Get Promoted Group, The Passionate Professional, Zinokwanda Online Media, Ndlovukazi Media, Mokorosi Financial Consulting and many more.
