Thembelihle Dunjana

Thembelihle Dunjana is a pianist, composer, singer, teacher and mentor, and a gigging musician from Cape Town. She started playing piano at the young age of 10 years and has since studied at schools with music departments from primary school through to high school, furthering her skills at the University of Cape Town College of Music, graduating with a Bachelor of music majoring in jazz performance. She started teaching in 2015 at the Kronendal music academy, teaching music to children who are mostly from the “Imizamo yethu” community who, through her teaching, have seen how music can lift the spirits of young minds. Thembelihle strongly believes that when children experience the growth gained from practising a musical instrument it manifests into other aspects of their lives, lifts their self-esteem and self-worth, and gives them the vigour to tackle each day. She has also taught at Rainbow music academy and IMAD music school, mentoring young musicians in the township of Khayelitsha to grow their musical talents. She now teaches jazz piano part-time at Bergvliet high school. At the age of 24, Thembelihle has already worked and played for South African vocalist Msaki, drummer Frank Paco, saxophonist Mark Fransman and Buddy Wells, and bassist Peter Ndlala. She has been organising and playing with her own musical project, which was chosen to be in the top 10 of the ESP Afrika young legends competition in 2019, throughout the city of Cape Town for the past 6 years. Thembelihle was recently been selected to as the pianist of the Emirates Pursuit of Jazz band for 2019.

Links

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PioobUh-VBA

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/thembelihle-dunjana