I’m glad to finally have a moment to reflect on the awe-inspiring and life-changing experience that was the 2026 edition of the Red Bull Symphonic concert with Sun-El Musician, Dlala Thukzin, Chad Hendricks and the Symphonic Orchestra. There’s also the talented featured artists, choir, wardrobe, hair and make-up, production and all the service providers and hardworking individuals who made such a spectacular vision come to life. Bless every pair of hands.

As the poet and programme director, my purpose was to weave the golden thread of story that connects us through oral tradition to Afro-House, this beautiful and soulful music, to each artist, to their respective homes, to the global human diaspora and to each other as masters. By pulling at the thread, mine is to speak us all onto the same page. The thread is connects all of us too, it beams through the collective; it’s a feeling that is evergreen and effervescent. It’s what makes us kin; it’s the kind of magic I try to explain when I am tasked to write the narrative opening of the Red Bull Symphonic.

The stage was as gorgeous to look at as it was humbling to speak upon. Everything good starts with a story and this one is about how many blessed hands make the lightest work. It’s also about how my social anthropology training has sharpened my creative inclinations and, in all that search for meaning, endeared me to the beauty of words.

Red Bull Symphonic, as it does every year, delivered a sumptuous arrangement of musical elements that please the deepest parts of the soul. From the gifts of Mnqobi Yazo, Mlindo the Vocalist, Sai Hle, Mavhungu, Thatohatsi, Mthunzi, Sykes, Babes Wodumo, Zee Nxumalo, Zaba, Blaq Seed, Babalwa M., Msaki, Simmy and Zeh McGeba came an outpouring of harmonious splendour. It resonates deeply with all of us and, this time, it translated beautifully while magnified under a celestial setting.

At the confluence of popular culture and the mastery of creating, Red Bull Symphonic’s Afro-House, Our Home was a grand and spectacular production. For my part, I listen. On repeat. I listen. Hape le hape, trying to hear what lies beneath the lyrics. With intention, I search the sound. I keep its chords on loop throughout the day. I listen for the rhythms that resound to keep the world spinning on an axis of heat. I live with this music. I reach for what resonates. I take it everywhere I go.

My poetry is brewed by my love for homegrown stories like this beautiful music. It’s especially delicious to have the Symphonic as a Winter staple; the music is warming, hearty and healing. And though music is a universal language, it is difficult to give a name to what it is that calls to you. It’s indescribable but you feel it. A golden thread that binds.

Under these beautiful African skies,

We invite you to

A moonlit orchestral experience.

Above us

and among us

Stars come out to witness

Worlds collide

In this once-in-a-lifetime moment

Carried by a chorus of world-class musicians

Blending classical and electronic instrumentation

Three glorious African suns will shine

On this stage tonight

Reimagining the repertoires that power

The soundtracks of our lives

It was an honour to welcome everyone in and to contextualise the ensuing brilliance under God’s spotlight. In the beginning was the Word. The words I spoke in the opening were to locate us within the transatlantic origins and global evolution of Afro-House music, firstly, and to give praise to the immense talent and diversity of creative expression that exists in our country, secondly. How beautiful it is when we all come together bringing the best of who we are to make whole.

This year I spoke of how Sun-El Musician and Dlala Thukzin’s Afro-House catalogues would enjoy a heavenly collision with Chad Hendricks and the Symphonic Orchestra’s classical reimagination. Let this night be a reminder:That we are limitless, no ceilings, unbound by genre. From production to performance, everyone involved brought the best of their craft and it was breathtaking! And I know the audience felt it!

There are barely words big enough to capture how expansive of an experience to witness all the mastery at work. Essay means try. So, for the purpose of posterity, I turn to the blessing of prose to document the scribe and her feelings. For me, it will always be about giving praise to what is Godly in us all – that rousing spirit that makes, where there was once none. Sometimes, the very soul of who we are as South Africa is laid bare when you listen to whom we love the loudest. So, once again, thank you to the Red Bull Symphonic for allowing me to witness a masterclass in world-class performance.

And I cannot possibly end without sending a special thank you to all of the magic hands that make sure that I look my best every night.

The full performance of the Red Bull Symphonic 2026: Afro-House, Our Home is available for your viewing pleasure below: