Kyle Shepherd (born 8 July 1987 in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

) is a South African jazz film and theatre composer and pianist. As a film composer he has scored Netflix hit TV series ''Unseen'', '' Savage Beauty,'' and '' Blood and Water''. As a performing pianist he has released seven albums and performed in 32 countries around the world in venues such as

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a ...

The Barbican Barbican is a type of fortified building. Barbican may also refer to: * Barbican (drink), a brand of malt beverage in Saudi Arabia and the UAE * Barbican Estate, a residential estate in London ** Barbican Centre, an arts centre in London ** Barb ...

, and the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

Life and work

Kyle Shepherd is one of South Africa's leading jazz film and theatre music composers and pianists. He was the

Standard Bank Standard Bank (officially Standard Bank Group Limited) is the largest bank in Africa, as well as the continent's biggest lender by assets. The company's corporate headquarters, Standard Bank Centre, is located in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The ...

Young Artist of the Year for Jazz in 2014 and the UNISA (

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA) is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...

) piano competition winner (Jazz category) in 2015. He has performed in 32 countries around the world, including 11 concert tours in Japan. His body of work comprises seven jazz albums (as of October 2024) and numerous scores for film, television and theatre. His television credits include the Netflix series ''Unseen,'' (season 1); '' Blood and Water (''season 2); '' Savage Beauty (''season 1) and ''

Surviving Paradise ''Surviving Paradise'' may refer to: * ''Surviving Paradise'' (2000 film), an Iranian-American family drama film * '' Surviving Paradise: A Family Tale'', a 2022 British nature documentary about animals in the Kalahari Desert * ''Surviving Paradi ...

''. Shepherd's film credits include ''Indemnity'' (2021); '' Barakat'' (2020), South Africa's official entry to the

2022 Academy Awards 2022 Academy Awards may refer to: * 94th Academy Awards, the Academy Awards ceremony that took place in 2022, honoring the best in film for March 2021 through December 2021 * 95th Academy Awards, the Academy Awards ceremony that took place in ...

and winner for Best Score at the 2022

Silwerskerm Film Festival The Silwerskerm Film Festival (), usually called the Silwerskerm Fees, is a film festival held annually in Camps Bay, South Africa. The festival has been held every August since 2010 and is one of the only Afrikaans film festivals in the world. ...

; ''Fiela se Kind'' (2019) also winner for Best Score at the 2020 Silwerskerm Film Festival; ''Vlugtig'' (2021); and '' Noem My Skollie (Call Me Thief)'', South Africa's official entry to the 2017 Academy Awards. He was awarded the 2018 South African Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Award: Book, Creative Collection and Digital Contribution. The award was for Best Musical Composition for his score for ''Noem My Skollie''. Shepherd is also the co-creator of the hit Afrikaans musical television show, ''Koortjies'' with Cape Town jazz and gospel music star Jonathan Rubain. In addition to his SAFTA, SAMA, and Silwerskerm nominations, Shepherd was nominated for a Fleur du Cap Theater Award in 2023 for his score in Lara Foot's award-winning ''Life & Times of Michael K.'' The production is based on the Nobel prize-winning novel by J.M Coetzee and won the 2023 Fleur du Cap award for Best Theatre Production. In February 2023, Shepherd completed a series of performances of ''Waiting for the Sibyl'' at the

in Paris and went on to perform the chamber opera at other international venues. ''Waiting for the Sibyl'' was created in collaboration with the South African visual artist

William Kentridge William Kentridge (born 28 April 1955) is a South African artist best known for his prints, drawings, and animated films. He is especially noted for a sequence of hand-drawn animated films he produced during the 1990s, constructed by filming ...

and co-composer Nhlanhla Mhlangu. The opera won the UK's

Laurence Olivier Theatre Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Aw ...

for Best New Opera Production in 2023. Shepherd received a Masters degree (Cum Laude) in Music from

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

in 2018 with a scholarship from York University (UK) in collaboration with Stellenbosch's

Africa Open Institute for Music, Research and Innovation The Africa Open Institute for Music, Research and Innovation (AOI) at Stellenbosch University is an interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to music studies. Founded in 2016 by the music scholar and writer Stephanus Muller, the institute p ...

(AOI).

Prizes and awards

In 2014 he won the ''Standard Bank Young Artist Award '' for the genre Jazz.

awards for his feature film scores

Fiela se kind ''Fiela's Child'' is a South African novel written by Dalene Matthee and published in 1985. The book was originally written in Afrikaans under the name ''Fiela se Kind'', and was later translated into English, German, French, Hebrew, Dutch, Sl ...

and '' Barakat''. And an Olivier theatre award for "Waiting for the Sibyl", a co-creation with

and Nhlahla Mahlangu. Humanities and social sciences award for his film score Noem my Skollie.

Discography

Albums

* ''fineArt'' (Sheer Sound 2009, with Buddy Wells, Dylan Tabisher, Claude Cozens) * ''A Portrait of Home'' (Sheer Sound 2010, with Shane Cooper, Jonno Sweetman) * ''South African History! X'' (Sheer Sound 2012) * ''Dream State'' (Sheer Sound 2014, with Shane Cooper, Jonno Sweetman and Buddy Wells) * Kyle Shepherd, Lionel Loueke, '' Sound Portraits from Contemporary Africa '' (Jazzhaus 2017, with Mthunzi Mvubu, Shane Cooper, Jonno Sweetman) * ''Into Darkness (2014).'' Solo in Japan * ''After the Night, The Day will Surely Come.'' (2021) Solo Piano * A Dance More Sweetly Played (2024, Matsuli Music), with Shane Cooper, Jonno Sweetman as the Kyle Shepherd Trio.

References

External links

* – official site * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Kyle 1987 births Living people Musicians from Cape Town Cape Coloureds South African jazz pianists South African film score composers