Isak Roux is a South African born

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

born in 1959. He is known for his arrangements of

South African music The music of South Africa exhibits a Culture of South Africa, culturally varied musical heritage in conjunction with the Ethnic groups in South Africa, multi-ethnic populace. Genres with the greatest international recognition being Mbube (genr ...

, especially his work with the musical groups

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Ladysmith Black Mambazo are a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of ''isicathamiya'' and ''mbube (genre), mbube''. They became known internationally after singing with American Paul Simon on his 1986 album ''Grace ...

http://www.miagi.co.za/media/Isak%20Roux%20to%20Perform%20in%20SA.html , MIAGI Festival 2008 Presents Isak Roux, South African born Pianist, Composer and Arranger to visit SA Ahead of Festival, Retrieved September 3, 2010. and Kwela Tebza.

Early life and education

Born in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

April 4, 1959, Isak Roux studied at the

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu- ...

where he obtained a Bachelor of Music and, in 1988, a Masters of Music in composition, with the dissertation ''Local music: Exploring the technical possibilities for establishing a South African compositional style''. This study was conducted under the supervision of Jürgen Bräuniger and composer

Kevin Volans Kevin Volans (born 26 July 1949) is a South African-born Irish composer and pianist. He studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel in Cologne in the 1970s and later became associated with the ''Neue Einfachheit'' (New Simplicity) mo ...

.http://www.composers21.com/compdocs/rouxi.htm, The Living Composers Project, Isak Roux, Retrieved September 3, 2010. In 1988 Roux relocated to Germany,http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-05-16-isak-rouxs-musical-homecoming, The Main and Guardian Online, Isak Roux's musical homecoming, DILLON DAVIE - May 16, 2008, Retrieved September 3, 2010. taking classes in composition with Ulrich Süsse at the

Staatliche Hochschule für Musik A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

Professional career

Since 1991, Roux has taught at the

Waldorf School Waldorf education, also known as Steiner education, is based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Its educational style is holistic, intended to develop pupils' intellectual, artistic, and practical ski ...

in Stuttgart. His work as a composer,

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

(both solo and ensemble) started while he was at university. Musical direction of productions such as ''Wakeman'', ''Wakeman 2'' and ''With a little help from my friends'' followed. Increasingly, he added choral composition and conducting to his list of musical activities. Resident in Europe, Roux has participated in musical festivals such as the Tonkünstlerfest (

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, 1990 and 1993) and the International Composers' Workshop (

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, 1996). In 1999, he delivered a lecture-recital for the Stuttgart German-American Society on South African (township)

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. His commitment to African musical forms, rhythms and instrumentation has, however, remained central to his creative vision. He has composed syncretically in

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

, post-avant-garde and contemporary classical styles (so-called new music), with his music regularly being performed in Germany, South Africa, the UK and the US. As an arranger he has become well known for his arrangements of South African music (traditional

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

, Cape-Malay and Zulu –for piano, ensemble and voice). Over the past few years his musical association with the music organisation Music is a great Investment (MIAGI), as well as super groups Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Kwela Tebza has brought him wider recognition as both a composer and arranger, in South Africa and abroad.

Work

Compositions

;STAGE ''Ritual'': Modern

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

/dance music, choreography by Paul Douglas. Two pianos. 1997 ;ORCHESTRAL ''Intrada Africana'': small orchestra. 2005
''Kwela Concerto'': four penny whistles,

string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first a ...

and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

. 2004 (commissioned) ;CHAMBER MUSIC ''Music for

Tenor Saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

and

Piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

'': 1981
''Composition for

String Quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

'': 1981
''Songs of the Urban Wanderer'':

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

and

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

. 1987
''Iculo lezingane'': piano,

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

, percussion,

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

. 1987
''Landscape'':

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

, tape, 1995
''Lines, fragments, machines'': violin,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

, percussion, tape. 1996, revised 1998
''Sketches'':

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, marimba. 1997
''Four African Scenes'', flute,

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

. 1999 (commissioned)
''Balafo (Études in African Rhythm)'': two marimbas. 1999
''Kleine Chronik'': clarinet, piano, 1999
''Prime Cuts: Zwei Konstruktionen'': oboe, cello. 1999 (commissioned)
''Tekweni Suite'':

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

quartet. 2003 (commissioned)
''Diepkloof Groove'': saxophone quartet. 2007 (commissioned) ;CHORAL ''Dona nobis pacem'':

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

, bass (SATB), flute,

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

, percussion, piano. 1986
''Missa Brevis'': boys’ chorus (SSA), flute, cello,

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

, two African drums. 1991 (commissioned)
''Coming Home'': (multilingual; original text by Johann P. Boshoff), speaker, soprano, lyrical tenor, baritone,

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

, string orchestra, jazz band, African percussion, 2008 (commissioned). ;SOLO VOCAL ''Verbeeldingsvlug'': Text by Johann P. Boshoff. Solo voice. 1985
''Die ou vrou se lied'': Text by Johann P. Boshoff. Solo voice. 1985
''Stations'' (The Way of the Cross) (multilingual, original text by Johann P. Boshoff), bass, speaker, string quartet, piano, harpsichord, percussion, 2002 ;PIANO ''Music for Two Pianists''. 1983
''Ritual: Dance for Two Pianos''. 1997
''Preludes in African Rhythm''. 1992-2000
''Home''. 2000
''In Thy Presence''. 2001
''Penny Whistle Song''. 2001
''Five South African Ragtimes''. 2001
''Piano Afrika Songs'', 2001
''Siyabonga''. 2002
''African Miniatures: Music for young pianists''. 2004
''Dr Kwela–Mr Ragtime'', 2006 (commissioned).

Arrangement and adaptations

''Izintombi zaseKwatazi'': Traditional Zulu. SATB. Undated
''Tischlied'': Text by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and music Maxilian Eberwein. SATB, piano. 1986
''Walil' untwana'': Original melody by Welcome Duru. SATB. 1986
''Mit Lieb bin ich umfangen'': Original by Johann Steuerlein. SATB. 1986
''Tant' Hessie & Volkies'': Traditional Afrikaans. SAB. 1986
Twelve (12) songs for Ladysmith Black Mambazo: arrangements for male voices and chamber orchestra, 2003 (commissioned)
''Some Night Music'', adaptations of three works by Mozart for four penny whistles, string orchestra, percussion and rhythm section, 2004 (commissioned)
''Agnus Dei'', baritone/mezzo soprano with piano and clarinet, 2006 revision of 1988 composition
''Watermelon Song'': saxophone quartet,

, bass guitar and percussion. 2007
''Dona nobis pacem'', new adaptation for ladies choir, piano and clarinet, 2007 (commissioned)
''Cape Medley'' (in Afrikaans, of “Boegoeberg se dam” and “Saai die waatlemoen”), children’s choir and piano, 2007 (commissioned).

Discography

;COMMERCIAL "Four African Scenes" on ''News for Woodwinds''. Domus Quintet (Dolphin, 1999)
''African Journal'' (various pieces). (Mp3.com, 2000)
''Eine Hand voll Erde'' (various pieces). Isak Roux on piano (self-released, 2000), First Composer’s Portrait Concert in Stuttgart
''Piano Afrika: Isak Roux plays traditional folk songs''. Isak Roux, piano (Rhythm Records, 2001)
''Piano Afrika 2: Honky Tonk Solo''. Isak Roux, piano (self-released, GEMA, 2002)
“Township Guitar” (from ''Preludes in African Rhythm''). Peter von Wienhardt, piano (Edition Musikat, 2002)
John Outland Christmas Chorale, 2004 (also DVD)
"Tekweni Suite" on ''We are not alone''. Saxofourte, (BMG Ariola Classics, 2004)
''No Boundaries''. Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Isak Roux–producer, arranger, composer and pianist (Heads Up International HUCD 3092, 2005), nominated for

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in category Best World Music Album in February 2006. ;ARCHIVE RECORDINGS ''Ritual: Dance for Two Pianos''. Private recording, Stuttgart. 2002
''Stations'', Stuttgart, 19 April 2002 (première), bass: Friedemann Lutz and ''Home'', ''Balafo'', and ''Mopani'', 2002, the Second Composer’s Portrait Concert in Stuttgart
''Stations'', Bloemfontein, August 2002 (South African première), bass: Vuyani Mlinde. ;PERFORMANCES Annually, since 1996, as pianist with John Outland’s Christmas Chorale or his other events in Germany
April & August 2002: Pianist in ''Stations''
November 2002: Two jamming sessions with the late Jake “Big Voice” Lerole in the ICMF Heritage Concerts in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

and

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa
November 2003: Première of 12 songs featured on the CD No Boundaries performed with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the

English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. With a limited performance size, the orchestra spe ...

and players from the ICMF Orchestra–Roux on piano
April 2005: Third Composer’s Portrait Concert in Stuttgart, with the European première of ''Ritual: Dance for Two Pianos'', ''Music for Two Pianists'' and ''African Miniatures''
November 2005: Première of ''Some Night Music'', ''Kwela Concerto'' and other arrangements
Throughout 2006: Kwela Tebza performed Roux’s arrangements and compositions in Oudtshoorn, Cape Town, Pretoria, Johannesburg (South Africa), and

Bern, Switzerland Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, the last with Roux on piano
September 2006: On piano with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, titles from ''No Boundaries'', in Johannesburg, South Africa
17 May 2008: On piano in ''Coming Home'', Johannesburg, 2008 December 2006: Revised ''Agnus Dei'' performed by John Outland’s Christmas Chorale in Stuttgart
Saxofourte performs ''Tekweni Suite'' in Germany and abroad virtually every week
William Chapman-Nyaho regularly performs parts of ''African Miniatures'' and ''Preludes in African Rhythm for Piano''. ;SHEET MUSIC In F.Z. van der Merwe South African/Africana music collection at the University of Pretoria, along with background correspondence and information. Published:
1998: "Die ou vrou se lied", in Johann P. Boshoff's book of Afrikaans poetry ''Bloot''
2007: "Dr Kwela–Mr Ragtime", Unisa, ''Grade 6 Piano Examination Pieces''
2007: "Kwela No. 1" and "Lullaby" in ''Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora Volume 1'', Chapman-Nyaho (ed.), Oxford University Press. ;PUBLICATIONS Featured artist, in English, in ''ClassicFeel Magazine'' (South Africa, October 2003)
Featured artist, in Afrikaans, in ''Kakkerlak 8'' (South Africa, July 2007)
Various programme notes, also by Isak Roux, Michael Spencer and Johann P. Boshoff ;ACADEMIC STUDIES OF ROUX'S WORK Van den Heever, M., "Die Suid-Afrikaanse weergawe van ''Stations'' van Isak Roux". BMus essay. University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 2005
Mosupyoe, L., "A performance-based study of the ''Preludes in African Rhythm'' by Isak Roux". BMus essay. University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 2008.

References

External links

Isak Roux website

Music is a great Investment website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roux, Isak 1959 births Living people German composers