Yogin Rajoo Sullaphen (born 8 January 1986) is a South African composer, music producer, live-looper and multi-instrumentalist. He is a member of the musical duo uKhoiKhoi, where his live-looping practices are a feature of their stage performances. Sullaphen is also known for composing and performing as part of theatre productions and performance art projects, which has earned him two nominations for

Naledi Theatre Awards The Naledi Theatre Awards are annual South African national theatre awards held in Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highve ...

, which recognize excellence in South African theatre.

Early life

Sullaphen was 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 ...

, South Africa, and relocated to

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 ...

during his teenage years. He comes from a mixed-heritage background, with a

South African Indian Indian South Africans are South Africans who descend from indentured labourers and free migrants who arrived from British India during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The majority live in and around the city of Durban, making it one of the la ...

father and a

Coloured Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...

mother. His diverse background exposed him to a wide range of musical influences, ranging from popular music of the 1970s and 1990s to

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

and

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 ...

jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

. Sullaphen did not receive formal music training until after high school when he decided to pursue a career in music and went on to complete a Bachelor of Music (BMus) at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

in Johannesburg, majoring in composition.

Career

Sullaphen began his career as a guitar teacher in a private school in Johannesburg before transitioning to

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

work in music, primarily focusing on composition and production. His work in music composition has earned him two nominations for Naledi Theatre Awards. He was nominated in the "best original score" category for the production "Jungfrau" in 2019, and for "best sound design/soundscape" for "Strange Land" in 2020, both directed by award-winning South African theatre director Jade Bowers. Sullaphen's work with acclaimed South African director and choreographer

Robyn Orlin Robyn Orlin (born 1955) is a South African dancer and choreographer, born in Johannesburg. Nicknamed in South Africa "a permanent irritation", she is well known for reflecting the difficult and complex realities in her country. Integrating differ ...

has been performed internationally. Between 2012 and 2017 his composition for "Beauty remained for just a moment…" travelled extensively in France and throughout Europe. From 2021 to 2024, Sullaphen, as part of uKhoiKhoi, toured across Europe with Orlin’s stage production titled “We wear our wheels with pride…”; and in mid-2024, uKhoiKhoi performed in several shows in France with “How in salts desert is it possible to blossom...”, Orlin’s latest production. Sullaphen has also composed for and performed in shows internationally with choreographer and performer Kieron Jina. In 2019, Sullaphen, along with vocalist and performing artist Anelisa "Annalyzer" Stuurman, founded the live-looping band uKhoiKhoi. This duo blends indigenous and electronic music to honour their ancestors and address societal injustices. uKhoiKhoi released a self-titled 3-track EP in 2020 and their second EP "Nongqawuse" was released in 2022. In addition to the international tours with Robyn Orlin, uKhoiKhoi has performed across South Africa at festivals, such as Mieliepop and

Fête de la Musique The Fête de la Musique, also known in English as Music Day, Make Music Day, or World Music Day, is an annual music celebration that takes place on 21 June. On Music Day, citizens and residents are urged to play music outside in their neighborho ...

, and other live events.

Works and performances

''Works for theatre and film''

''Performances with uKhoiKhoi''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullaphen, Yogin Living people South African male composers University of the Witwatersrand alumni 1986 births