Heavenly Quartez celebrate turning 10
TENOR group Heavenly Quartez are hitting all the right notes, and this year they are celebrating 10 years in the business.
“It’s been a great journey. We have had the privilege of performing with various artists and sharing the stage with them,” said group member Nkumbuzo Nkonyana.
Heavenly Quartez are from Khayelitsha and started in 2008. They are a classical music group, and their music features a combination of various different languages including Afrikaans, English, Italian and Xhosa.
They mostly sing about hope, and their aim is to empower those who are in need of inspiration. They are planning their New Album. The group comprises Nkonyana, Melikhaya Ndabeni, Mawande Mxunyelwa and Sihle Mtitshana.
“What we’ve learnt is that classical music is not very popular in South Africa, and not everyone has a background of classical music, like us.
“We were fortunate enough to have had music taught to us in school,” Nkonyana said.
Nkumbuzo was born in Khayelitsha and was raised with a little sister by a single mother.
In 2001, he was chosen by his class teacher at primary school to join the school’s senior choir.
His love of music started, and he travelled to many places with the choir for competitions and performances.
In 2009 he was chosen to represent South Africa at the World Magic Seminar in Las Vegas, competing against other teenagers from around the world.
But it was in 2010 that Nkumbuzo decided to focus on his musical career, and formed Heavenly Quartez.
“Building our careers as a group has really been a learning curve because we come from Khayelitsha where there is a constant negative portrayal of people in the area, and about men,” he said.
Heavenly Quartez are expected to have two concerts to celebrate their 10-year anniversary.
One will be on June30 in Khayelitsha, and the other on December2 at the Artscape Theatre. Tickets are available from Computicket.
BUILDING OUR CAREERS AS A GROUP HAS REALLY BEEN A LEARNING CURVE AS WE COME FROM KHAYELITSHA